Lukashenko's pass trick against opponents abroad

2023-09-07 00:04:00

In a decree published on Monday, Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko ordered that the country’s embassies should no longer issue passports. Even for citizens living abroad, passports are only to be issued in Belarus, where critics of the regime face arrest.

Travel home as a risk

Since new passports are only to be issued at police stations and on the spot at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Minsk, citizens would have to return to Belarus to get a new document. For dissidents abroad, traveling home poses a great risk. On the other hand, once their Belarusian document has expired, they now expect massive bureaucratic difficulties in extending their respective residence permits in the host country. This also applies to Austria.

“We, like other EU member states, are aware of the problem,” says the Austrian Foreign Ministry. Efforts are being made to find pragmatic solutions for those affected, with the Ministry of the Interior being responsible for issuing residence permits.