Russia introduces frontier zone regime on the border with Belarus

2 февраля 2017

Russia made a decision on the establishment of the frontier zone on the border with Belarus without any notification, said the Foreign Ministry of our country. Russia's FSB requested to establish a border zone within Bryansk, Smolensk and Pskov regions from February 6.

Maria Vanshina, head of the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry:

"Firstly, in spite of all the existing agreements, the Russian party made a decision on the establishment of the frontier zone on the border with Belarus without prior notice.

Secondly, I have an impression that these actions lead to the restoration of full control on the Belarusian-Russian border, canceled more than twenty years ago. This runs counter to a number of existing agreements providing for the basic principle of openness of the borders between the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation."

The Foreign Ministry emphasizes that in this case the initiative comes not from the Belarusian side. And they pointed out that, unfortunately, this is not the first such case. A similar situation occurred in the beginning of 2016, when Russia actually began to impose restrictions on the entry of third country nationals across the border of Belarus and Russia.