30-12-2016
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Makei on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Belarus signed the Financing Agreements on the EU Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes “Latvia-Lithuania-Belarus” and “Poland-Belarus-Ukraine” within the European Neighbourhood Instrument for 2014-2020.
The signing of the agreements creates a legal basis for participation of Belarus in implementation of the mentioned programmes, which are aimed at supporting the cooperation between Participating States and their adjacent territories in such areas as shared border management, combatting cross-border crime, joint emergency response, environment protection, supporting entrepreneurship, developing tourism, healthcare and social services, preservation of historical and cultural heritage, fostering cross-cultural dialogue and people-to-people contacts.
The total budget of both programmes amounts to more than 280 million Euro, which will be allocated for project activities in the Participating States on a competitive basis. At the same time, over 20 million Euro of these funds are reserved for direct-award implementation of large infrastructure projects in Belarus for development of border infrastructure, including modernisation of border-crossing points, improvement of technical systems for border control and reconstruction of access roads.
The Financing Agreements will fully enter into force following their ratification by the Republic of Belarus in 2017.