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Lithuania to establish visa application centers in Belarus

The Lithuanian foreign ministry is going to establish visa application centers in Belarus this fall in order to solve the problem of long queues at the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk.

The centers will have "unlimited" opportunities for processing visa applications and providing additional services, said the press office of the ministry.

According to the press office, the Lithuanian embassy in Minsk has hired four additional staff members, and one more diplomat and a technical worker are expected to arrive in Minsk to stay there until the end of the summer season.

The Lithuanian embassy in Minsk issues about 1,100 visas a day, the press office noted. In the first half of 2014, the embassy and the consulate in Hrodna issued a total of 110,513 visas, or 6.8 percent more than in the same period the previous year.

"The number of issued visas corresponds to the real flows of those traveling from Belarus to Lithuania, but the embassy's technical abilities have reached their limit," the press office said. "The online application registration system is constantly subjected to attacks. Malicious people or those seeking gain create additional obstacles to the smooth operation of the embassy's visa department. Although more visas are issued, the queues at the embassy do not become shorter." // BelaPAN