Belarus may start talks on visa-free EU travel

According to information EUObserver gathered from senior officials of Latvia's EU presidency, Belarus might come closer of a visa-free regime with the European Union if it releases political prisoners in time for an Eastern Partnership summit, taking place in May 2015.

It would be a breakthrough in EU-Belarus relations, which remain all-but frozen under the authoritarian regime of president Alexander Lukanshenko, who jailed scores of dissidents after his re-election in 2010.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: EU extends and updates restrictive measures against Belarus http://www.europeansources.info/record/press-release-eu-extends-and-updates-restrictive-measures-against-belarus/

EurActiv: Links Dossier: Visa-free travel for the EU's East: The next frontier (2012-) http://www.europeansources.info/record/visa-free-travel-for-the-eus-east-the-next-frontier/

EUObserver, 11.02.15: Lukashenko angling for better EU ties https://euobserver.com/foreign/127598

EurActiv, 20.02.15: EU no longer sees Lukashenko as ‘last dictator’ http://www.euractiv.com/sections/europes-east/eu-no-longer-sees-lukashenko-last-dictator-312284

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