Opinions & Interviews

Belarus’ ambassador to Israel calls to fine-tune visa waiver enforcement

MINSK, 9 August (BelTA) -  We need to fine-tune the enforcement of the Belarusian-Israeli visa waiver agreement, Belarus Ambassador to Israel Vladimir Skvortsov said in an interview with the Argumenty I Fakty weekly, BelTA has learned.

The diplomat highlighted positive things. “Abolishing the visa requirements, according to our estimates, gave a great boost to the entire set of bilateral relations. In a sense, it became a symbol of mutual confidence, created a favorable atmosphere for contacts in different areas and stimulated the interest in visiting the friendly country, learning more about it,” he said.

Along with this, the ambassador cited the examples when Israel denied entry to Belarusian citizens at the airport. “The most notorious cases were reported in Belarus’ major mass media and in Israel. Here's one such example. A 39-year-old patient with skin disease along with his 70-year-old father were en-route to the Dead Sea for a vacation, which was fully paid, but were denied entry at the airport under the pretext that one of them had $1,000, which was supposedly too much and which was interpreted as an evidence of their intention to stay in Israel illegally. In other cases it was the absence of an adequate sum that was cited as a pretext to deny entry,” Ambassador Vladimir Skvortsov said.

The other day an 11-year-old girl en-route to Israel to visit her aunt (not for the first time) was deported on suspicion of an intent of illegally staying in the country, the diplomat informed.

“Here is another recent example. In July a group of pilgrims, which included doctors, teachers, and entrepreneurs, were traveling to Israel to see the Holy Land but were denied entry when passing through passport control without a clear explanation. Members of the group presumed that they were suspected of the intention to get employed in Israel. Immigration officials gave no arguments to substantiate their suspicions. The pilgrims spent 24 hours in the airport to be expelled by Israel to Russia's Krasnodar, not home,”  the ambassador said. “The number of such cases, when immigration officers make deportation decisions largely on a whim, solely on the basis of subjective feelings has been growing. It is not surprising that Belarusian citizens have started calling on the government to revise the visa arrangements with Israel. Many believe that a trip to that country has become a risky experiment.

“Despite the concerns and disappointment over the situation, I believe that the abolition of the visa requirements between Belarus and Israel has played a generally constructive role in strengthening bilateral relations, raising them to a qualitatively new level. Today, we should think of not returning to the visa regime but of improving the enforcement of the agreement and continuing an active critical dialogue with partners. Of course, the positive result will come only when there is a mutual understanding that it is a two-way street, that it is a mutually beneficial process, equally meeting the interests of citizens of Belarus and Israel, contributing to the rapprochement between the two countries,” Ambassador Vladimir Skvortsov sad.

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