Belarus Cancels Border Control with Russia

Belarusian border guards have halted monitoring activities at the border with Russia. This was announced to Interfax by Anton Bichkovski, the official representative of the Belarusian State Border Committee.

“At this moment, monitoring activities at the border with the Russian Federation have been suspended,” the agency's representative stated. The Belarusian State Border Committee did not provide additional details.

The publication “Zerkalo” reported that the first indications of the disappearance of border checkpoints on the Russia-Belarus border appeared on the evening of July 18. At the same time, it was reported the day before that monitoring was still ongoing.

Journalists were unable to clarify through the Belarusian State Border Committee’s hotline whether border control would be resumed. They explained that this decision is made by the country’s government.

On May 5, it became known that temporary border control had been introduced at the entrance from Russia to Belarus, and checks of the passports of individuals entering the country had begun. The Belarusian State Border Committee stated that this was a temporary measure related to the ratification process of the agreement on mutual recognition of visas with Russia.

Previously, there was no complete passport control at the border between Russia and Belarus. Border guards could selectively stop vehicles and request necessary documents.