Expert: extended visa-free regime underlines Belarus' desire to be open and transparent to the whole world

More than 12 thousand foreigners have visited Belarus after the introduction of the extended visa-free regime. In addition to citizens of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, more than a thousand representatives of other European countries used the opportunity to come to the republic without visas, and most of them came from Germany and Estonia. In his talk with Alfa Radio, the Dean of the Belarusian State University’s Journalism Department, Aleksei Belyaev, explained what this trend might indicate.

Mr. Belyaev noted that the extended visa-free regime underlines Belarus' desire to be open and transparent to the whole world, “We should show ourselves, and we are doing this in all possible way. We have nothing to hide. If someone accuses Belarus of something, then the best way to confirm their words is to come and find confirmation for them. Our visa-free regime can help in this mission. However, for some reason it turns out that most of those who come here and who are smart enough to analyse what is happening say that the reports on Belarus prepared by the Western propaganda are fundamentally wrong. [They say] the republic is good and dynamic, its people are kind and responsive, the economy operates well, shops offer all kind of food, there are no homeless people on the streets, Belarusians seem to be happy with their lives and have no serious problems.”

The expert added, “It is actually a lifestyle for Belarus to open the borders and impose no great visa restrictions. The country is ready to welcome everyone, and it is probably an indicator of our openness and a desire to be on the same wavelength with the world. It is necessary to understand that the stereotypes that Belarus is a totalitarian state with KGB agents at each corner, that the police can capture people for any offense or for no reason are imposed by the Western media which are presenting the situation in Belarus in this way.”