More than 4.4 thousand Latvian citizens received a permit for local border traffic

May 15, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Over 4.4 thousand citizens of Latvia, residents of the territories bordering Belarus, have received permits for local border traffic. Oleg Matskevich, Deputy Chairman of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, announced this at a briefing today, as reported by a BELTA correspondent. In accordance with the agreement between the governments of Belarus and Latvia on a simplified procedure for mutual travel of residents of border territories, dated August 23, 2010, consular institutions have been accepting documents for issuing permits for local border traffic since February 1 of the current year. Initially, about 200 people were included in the lists from the Belarusian side, and about 4,000 from the Latvian side. As of May 1, when new lists were submitted to the consulates, they contained about 1,000 and 5,000 people, respectively, according to Oleg Matskevich. As the Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee noted, out of more than 4,000 citizens of Latvia who applied for a permit for local border traffic, only three were denied due to issues with the criminal code. "This testifies to the good-neighborly relations between our states and the established friendly, constructive contacts," he emphasized. Although family ties most often serve as the basis for issuing permits for local border traffic (accounting for about 70%), business meetings are also a valid reason for participating in small border traffic. Active business processes involving Belarusian and Latvian entrepreneurs are underway in the Verkhnedvinsk and Braslav districts, which is greatly facilitated by the simplified border crossing procedure. In addition to visiting relatives and regular business contacts, the grounds for issuing permits include organizing or participating in cultural, educational, scientific, and sports events held by authorities and institutions of Belarus and Latvia, owning real estate, visiting relatives' burial sites, receiving medical care, and participating in events related to local traditions and religious ceremonies. The agreement on a simplified procedure for mutual travel of residents of border territories of Belarus and Latvia provides for a simplified procedure for crossing the state border by residents of border territories who have been permanently residing in these territories for at least one year, regardless of their citizenship, provided they have a permit for local border traffic issued by the competent authority of the other party, and a travel document (passport or other document stipulated by law). The permit will be issued for a period of 1 to 5 years. The fee for accepting and considering an application for a permit is set at 20 euros. However, pensioners, disabled persons, and children under 18 years of age may be exempted from paying the fee on a reciprocal basis. A list of administrative-territorial units on the territory of each party has also been established, defining the border territory adjacent to the Belarusian-Latvian border and located within a 30 km zone from it. If part of such an entity is located in the zone from 30 to 50 km from the border, then this entity is also considered part of the border territory. In accordance with the list, the border territories of the Vitebsk region include the Bigosovsky, Chapayevsky, Saryansky, Osvyaysky, Kokhanovichsky, Belkovshchinsky rural councils of the Verkhnedvinsk district, the city of Verkhnedvinsk; the Povyatsky, Perebrodsky, Dolginovsky, Miorsky, Novopogostsky, Turkovsky rural councils of the Miorsky district, the city of Miory; the Druyevsky, Plyussky, Slobodkovsky, Opsovsky, Dalekovsky, Akhremovsky, Mezhansky, Teterkovsky, Vidzovsky rural councils of the Braslav district, the city of Braslav, the village of Vidzy. -0-