Zelenskyy responds to petition calling for introduction of visa regime with Belarus
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Photo:Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to a petition for calling for the introduction of a visa regime with Belarus, reads a message posted on his official site on Oct. 13.
"The visa-free regime with Belarus threatens national security," the petition reads.
Zelenskyy noted that stricter cross-border measures for Belarusians had already been put in place.
The president added that the Ukrainian-Belarusian border has been closed by the Cabinet of Ministers for residents of Belarus since Feb. 26, 2022 – they are not permitted to enter the country.
All Ukrainian checkpoints on Belarusian border were closed, except for one in Volyn. It was left open for Ukrainian citizens who are returning home, Zelenskyy said.
However, Zelenskyy asked the Cabinet of Ministers to consider the issue raised by the petition on behalf of Ukrainian national interests, namely canceling the visa-free regime with Belarus as stated in the petition posted on July 4, 2022.
Ukraine has already cancelled its visa regime with Russia, which used the territory of Belarus to attack Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the introduction of a visa regime with Russia as a response to “unprecedented threats to the national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
At the beginning of May, the petition on establishing a visa regime for Russian citizens that was published on the president's website on Feb. 11 collected the required 25,000 signatures.
On May 25 Zelenskyy responded to the petition and sent a letter to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal asking him to work on the matter.
The Cabinet of Ministers canceled the visa-free regime with Russia from July 1, 2022. Since then, the aggressor state citizens enter Ukraine exclusively on visas.
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