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Irish foreign minister hopes that ban on travel of Belarusian children will be lifted soon

The Irish minister for foreign affairs has expressed hope that Belarusian children would soon be able to resume travel to his country on health breaks, The Irish Times reported.

Minister Micheal Martin said that the two countries were close to signing an agreement that would end the ban.
The Irish attorney general and officials from several departments are studying the text of the deal that was drafted by Belarusian authorities, and Mr. Martin has also secured formal Cabinet approval to sign the agreement as soon as talks end, the report said.

"Close contact is being maintained with the charities dealing with Chernobyl children as the situation evolves, and I am personally determined to find a satisfactory outcome to this issue," the minister was quoted as saying.

The Belarusian ambassador to Belgium, Uladzimir Syanko, earlier said that the Belarusian authorities' "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." "There is a positive mood in Minsk towards Irish partners," 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. //BelaPAN