Agreement between the European Union and Belarus on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation

Summary:

Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Belarus on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation.

Further information:

The readmission agreement sets out obligations and procedures for EU Member States and Belarus on the readmission of citizens illegally residing in the territory of the other party without authorisation. The agreement covers both the readmission of own nationals as well as third country nationals and stateless persons, provided they have a clear link with the requested country. Full respect of human rights and other obligations under international instruments are ensured in the agreement.

The negotiations were formally launched on 30 January 2014 and the first round of negotiations was held on 13 June 2014. Following a further three rounds of negotiations on 25 November 2014, 11 March 2015 and 20 June 2017, the text of the agreement was initialled on 17 June 2019. Proposals for Council Decisions on the signing and conclusion of this Agreement on behalf of the European Union were adopted by the European Commission on 30 August 2019. The Council of the European Union adopted the Decision on signing the Agreement on 19 December 2019, and the Decision on concluding the Agreement on 27 May 2020.

• Primary Source

News

RFE/RL, 08/01/2020: EU, Belarus Ink Visa Deals To Improve Mobility Of Citizens https://www.rferl.org/a/eu-belarus-ink-visa-deals-to-improve-mobility-of-citizens/30366938.html

LRT News, 09/01/2020: EU signs visa agreement with Belarus, ending decade-long deadlock https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/1131735/eu-signs-visa-agreement-with-belarus-ending-decade-long-deadlock

BELTA, 14/04/2020: Belarus completes ratification of visa facilitation, readmission agreements with EU https://eng.belta.by/politics/view/belarus-completes-ratification-of-visa-facilitation-readmission-agreements-with-eu-129769-2020/

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Official

EUR-LEX: Council Decision (EU) 2019/2228 of 19 December 2019 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Belarus on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation http://data.europa.eu/eli/dec/2019/2228/oj

EUR-LEX: COM(2019)401: Proposal for a Council Decison on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and Belarus on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2019:401:FIN

EUR-LEX: COM(2019)404: Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and Belarus on the readmission of persons residing without authorisation https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=COM:2019:404:FIN

European Parliament: Legislative Observatory: Procedure File for Proposal on EU/Belarus Agreement on readmission of persons residing without authorisation https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/ficheprocedure.do?lang=en&reference=2019/0181(NLE)

European Commission: Press Release, 08/01/2020: Visa Facilitation and Readmission: the European Union and Belarus sign agreements https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_20_6

Council of the European Union: Press Release, 27/05/2020: Belarus: EU concludes agreements on visa facilitation and readmission https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2020/05/27/belarus-eu-concludes-agreements-on-visa-facilitation-and-readmission/

EU EEAS: Delegation of the European Union to Belarus: News, 27/05/2020: Belarus: EU concludes agreements on visa facilitation and readmission https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/belarus/79984/

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