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Belarus is one of leaders in terms of EU entry denials, report says

Belarus is one of the world leaders in terms of the number of people who are denied entry into the European Union, according to a report by the Vilnius-based Belarusian Institute of Strategic Studies (BISS).

More than 6,000 citizens of Belarus were not allowed to enter the EU in 2011, the fifth largest number after Albania, Russia, Ukraine and Serbia, the report says.

Belarus reportedly accounted for 4.6 percent of all Schengen visas issued in 2011.

Between 2008 and 2011, the number of entry denials for citizens of Belarus increased by an average of 10 percent every year as more Belarusians traveled to the European Union.

The Polish and Lithuanian border authorities accounted for more than 95 percent of the entry denials, the report said, explaining that most Belarusians enter the EU through Poland and Lithuania.

A majority of the Belarusian citizens barred from the EU either held invalid visas or residence permits or had insufficient funds to stay in the EU.

It was more common for citizens of Belarus to be denied entry into the EU for the latter reason than for citizens of other countries, the report notes.

At the same time, the inability of visa applicants to prove the goals of the planned trip and confirm their living arrangements was a relatively rare cause of entry denials. The number of Belarusians who were denied entry into the EU for this reason decreased nearly five times between 2006 and 2011, the report says. //BelaPAN