Belarus Imposes Visa Regime for Georgia

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko accepted a decision to impose a visa regime for Georgia, the press office of the President of Belarus reported on June 9.

?The decision has been motivated by the need to continue efforts aimed at intensifying the struggle against organized and transnational crime, protecting the interests of third countries neighboring Belarus in conformity with the existing agreements,? the press office reported.

The Belarus authorities claim that recently the territory of Belarus has been increasingly used by Georgian criminal elements as a channel for entering the territory of the Russian Federation without having appropriate visas.

Earlier, in 2001, Russia withdrew from the treaty on non-visa movement of CIS citizens on the territory of member states, which was signed in 1992, and imposed a visa regime for Georgia.

In July, 2004 Georgia unilaterally simplified its visa requirements for Russian citizens.

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