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Ban on Belarusian children's travel to Ireland may be lifted, report says

The Belarusian authorities' ban on the travel of children affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident to Ireland may be lifted soon, The Irish Times reported, BelaPAN said.

"Our primary belief is that this matter will be resolved in good time and that a decision concerning these issues will be taken in the very near future, and possibly this week," the newspaper quoted the Belarusian ambassador to Belgium, Uladzimir Syanko, as saying following his talks in Brussels with MEP Eoin Ryan of Ireland.

"There is a positive mood in Minsk towards Irish partners," the ambassador told reporters in Brussels on November 11. "The government of Belarus regards Ireland and NGO groupings as a concrete partner."
Mr. Ryan was quoted as saying that he was confident that a deal would be struck in the next few days. "They have had problems with Belgium, Italy and the US, but they were definitely signaling an exception will be made for Ireland," he said.

More than 2,500 children who live in Chernobyl-affected areas visit Ireland every year. Chernobyl Aid Ireland wants to organize trips to Ireland for 100 Belarusian children this Christmas.

This past October, Alyaksandr Lukashenka issued an edict stipulating that Belarusian children may travel aboard on a health break under Chernobyl programs only to countries that have concluded with the Belarusian government an agreement that guarantees the return of the children.

The Belarusian authorities suspended the foreign trips of children under such programs after a 16-year-old Belarusian girl failed to show up for a flight home from the United States in August and said that she wanted to stay in California.