La frontera entre Rusia y Bielorrusia está cerrada para turistas extranjeros

Border checkpoint “Krasnaya Gorka” located near Smolensk on the border between Russia and Belarus was closed for the transit of foreign tourists. As noted by the press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina, the checkpoint will be closed for representatives of all countries except Russia and Belarus.

At a meeting held in the Russian Ministry of Culture with present representatives of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Border Service of the FSB and Russian Ministry of Transport, the border guards reported that the checkpoint “Krasnaya Gorka” is designed exclusively for travel of citizens of Belarus and Russia – both countries are members of the Union State, there is no boundary between them. As a consequence, the cross of this checkpoint by train or automobile by citizens of other countries is illegitimate. According to the border guards, this checkpoint is closed for the transit of third-country citizens and will hardly be available for them in the future.

It should be recalled that in September 2016 citizens of Poland, the Czech Republic and other countries were not able to enter the territory of Russia from Belarus through the checkpoint “Krasnaya Gorka”.

It was previously reported that the officers of “Krasnaya Gorka” had not allowed a group of Austrian tourists entering Russia through Belarus. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs explains the closure of this border checkpoint by its lack in the list of international checkpoints.

According to Irina Tyurina, the representatives of the tourism industry will offer to the border guards a temporary regulation allowing the organized groups to cross the border according to the register number of their tour operator.