Lithuania and other EU countries recognize old-style Belarusian driver's licenses

April 7, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. Lithuania and other European Union countries have no claims to old-style Belarusian driver's licenses, Interfax-West reports, citing the head of the Lithuanian traffic police, Gintaras Alksninis. "We recognize and will continue to recognize these driver's licenses – they comply with all road traffic conventions. There are no and have been no innovations," he emphasized. "It's a different matter if a driver arrives with a driver's license issued in the USSR. That state no longer exists, and those licenses are no longer recognized," he added. Gintaras Alksninis noted that the hype surrounding driver's licenses in Belarus is unclear to him. He also refuted the information that a notarized translation into the language of the country of stay would be required for an old driver's license. "If a driver's license has Latin script and is valid, it means it does not require translation and complies with the requirements of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic," Gintaras Alksninis emphasized. New driver's licenses have been issued in Belarus since February 1, 2011. The start of issuance was marked by a rush – hours-long queues of drivers wishing to exchange their licenses. The queues were caused by statements made by traffic police representatives shortly before the start of issuing new licenses, regarding the illegitimacy of old driver's licenses in the EU from March 31, 2011. -0-