Opinions & Interviews

Terlecki: Poland wants to emulate Belarus as host for European Games

MINSK, 22 August (BelTA) – Poland hopes to be on a par with Belarus as a host for the European Games, Deputy Marshal of the Polish Sejm Ryszard Terlecki told reporters on 22 August, BelTA has learned.

A Polish parliamentary delegation led by Ryszard Terlecki will be in Belarus till 23 August. The Polish MPs are to hold talks at the Sports and Tourism Ministry where they will discuss Belarus’ experience of hosting the European Games. According to Ryszard Terlecki, this matter is important for the Polish side. “We want to run the European Games in Poland in the same great way as Minsk did,” he said.

The Polish delegation will  tour Myadel District and Glubokoye District where they will meet with local authorities to discuss cooperation in tourism, among other things. “In this regard, we welcome Belarus’ decision to expand the visa waiver program,” Ryszard Terlecki said.

Vice Chairman of the House of Representatives of Belarus Boleslav Pirshtuk believes that Belarus’ experience of hosting the European Games will be useful for Poland. Speaking about partnerships in the tourism industry, he noted that the expansion of the visa-free area creates new cooperation opportunities.

A reminder, in line with Decree No. 300, the existing separate visa-free travel areas around Brest and Grodno were combined into one visa-free travel area named Brest-Grodno. Five districts in Grodno Oblast were added to the new area. Those are Berestovitsa District, Volkovysk District, Voronovo District, Lida District, and Shchuchin District. Citizens of 73 countries will be allowed to stay without visas in the specified area for tourism purposes for up to 15 days. The decree will come into force on 10 November. Now citizens of the designated countries can stay here for up to 10 days.

Meanwhile, foreigners do not need visas to enter Belarus and stay in the country for up to 30 days, provided they arrive in the country via Minsk National Airport.

Minsk hosted the 2nd European Games on 21-30 June. Over 4,000 athletes from 50 countries competed for 200 medal sets in 15 sports. The 3rd European Games are to be held in Poland in 2023.

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