Opinions & Interviews
Visa-free entry to Augustow Canal Park to enable new contacts between Belarus, Poland
GRODNO, 26 October (BelTA) – The ability to enter the Augustow Canal Park without visas will allow establishing new contacts between Belarus, Poland, and other countries, BelTA learned from Marshal of Poland’s Podlaskie Voivodeship Jerzy Leszczynski, who visited the park on 26 October.
Jerzy Leszczynski became the first foreign tourist to enter the tourism and recreation park Augustow Canal without visas. A delegation of Podlaskie Voivodeship crossed the Belarusian border via the border checkpoint Lesnaya-Rudawka on 26 October.
Jerzy Leszczynski noted: “The Augustow Canal is a beautiful place. It is very important for the Belarusian side to make it more accessible for foreign tourists. The approach will surely attract visitors. It is also important for us that the visa-free regime will become a good reason for advancing contacts between our countries. Not only in tourism but economy as well.” Asked about enabling visa-free travels for Belarusians in Podlaskie Voivodeship, the official said it can be done in the future. “We are discussing the possibility with our diplomatic service,” he remarked.
The Polish delegation is expected to get familiar with the potential of the Belarusian part of the Augustow Canal. Members of the delegation are expected to visit the border checkpoint Sofiyevo-Lipchany on the Belarusian-Polish border and have a meeting at premises of the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee. A tourism information center of Podlaskie Voivodeship will be opened in Grodno. A tourism information center dedicated to Grodno will be opened in Bialystok.
BelTA reported earlier that foreign tourists can visit the tourism and recreation park Augustow Canal without visas as from 26 October. Grodno and part of Grodno District now belong to the so-called visa-free zone. To visit the park, foreign citizens will need their passport (or another document for travelling abroad) and the document confirming their right to visit the Augustow Canal. Such documents are issued by travel agencies. Applications can be submitted online at grodnovisafree.by.
Tourists are required to have the means to finance the costs associated with staying in Belarus and leaving the country. In particular, tourists will need at least two base amounts per day in Belarusian rubles or a foreign currency. One base amount equals Br21 at present. Visa-free travels will be available till 31 December 2017.
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