The opposition is preparing a passport to the “new Belarus”. What is known?
Hundreds of thousands of Belarusians have left the Republic of Belarus due to the political persecution that swept the country after the August 2020 presidential elections and the ensuing mass protests. During this time, the issue of exchanging a passport has become urgent for many, but not all departed people can apply for it at Belarusian diplomatic missions abroad. To solve the problem, the Joint Transitional Cabinet (OPK) of Svetlana Tikhanovskaya developed a project for an alternative passport or, as it is also called in the media, the passport of the “new Belarus”.
The layout of the document has not yet been presented to the public, but it is known that the historical Belarusian coat of arms “Pahonia” will be depicted on its cover. Democratic forces are also negotiating with European partners to support the project.
Document layout complies with ICAO requirements
“We have completed the first phase. A document layout has been developed that fully meets the requirements of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which regulates these issues. It is equipped with special protective properties. Now we need to get technical support from one of the states (HUH. – Red.), after that we can move on,” says Valery Kovalevsky, representative of the defense industry complex for international affairs. And he adds that agreements have also been reached with the European Commission, which is ready to support the project to create an alternative Belarusian passport.
Earlier, Franak Vyachorko, adviser to Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, said that there were problems with obtaining a country code for such a document, since letters like BLR “are assigned by the UN to each state separately”; therefore, a partner country that “can potentially issue this code” is required – Estonia and Iceland are considered as such. At the same time, Kovalevsky assured that the new document “will indeed be a Belarusian national passport with the Chase coat of arms.”
As for the functions of the document, according to the representative of the defense industry complex, there are two of them: confirming Belarusian citizenship and being a travel document with which its holder can travel around the world. It is important that at the same time this passport does not replace entry visas or documents confirming the right to reside in a particular country. “The document can be used for some domestic or administrative matters: opening a bank account or buying a SIM card,” adds Kovalevsky.
Any citizen of the Republic of Belarus can obtain a passport with “Pursuit”
It is expected that, in an initial phase, the alternative passport will be valid in the Schengen area in the EU. “If we manage to create such a precedent, we will already work to expand the area of \u200b\u200bthe document’s use,” does not exclude Valery Kovalevsky. And he draws attention to the situation of Belarusians in Ukraine, who need to change or replace their passports.
“They cannot go anywhere, because there is no consulate (Belarusian. – Ed.) or embassy. None of the state authorities in Ukraine issues certificates about the loss of documents, a vicious circle,” says the politician. for a long time without documents and cannot even leave the territory of Ukraine. As soon as we have the opportunity to issue documents, I think we will give them to the Belarusians, regardless of whether there is support for the Ukraine project.”
In general, any citizen of Belarus will be able to obtain an alternative passport, although the first priority is given to those “who need to replace documents.” Belarusians in the Republic of Belarus will also be able to become the owners of a passport with “Pahonia”, but for this they will have to travel outside the country in order to present the necessary documents for this. In addition, Kovalevsky warns that obtaining such a passport for them may involve certain risks and consequences in their homeland if the document is discovered by the authorities.
It is not yet known when the first alternative passports for citizens of the Republic of Belarus may appear, according to Kovalevsky, this will depend on the progress of negotiations with European partners.
Can the experience of the Baltic countries be applied to the situation in the Republic of Belarus?
Historian Alexander Fridman draws attention to the fact that the Joint Transitional Cabinet borrowed the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating alternative passports from the Baltic countries, which since 1940 were considered occupied by the USSR in the West (Franak Vecherko also stated this in the media. – Red.). Friedman recalled that after the annexation, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia maintained their diplomatic missions in the USA, Great Britain, France and other Western states, which, among other things, could issue passports.
“However, its main objective was to show that the Baltic states were temporarily occupied, as well as managing state assets that were left abroad. Issuing passports was not a priority, but one of the aspects with a view to the future, when the eviction happens”, explained the historian. “In 1940-50, there was hope that this would happen because of the Cold War that had started, but when the situation stabilized, it was very naive to believe in vacating. occupation.”
In addition, according to Friedman, these passports helped people from the Baltic countries to maintain their identity, there was no practical side there. They were not used, as a rule, as a travel document, as suggested in the Belarusian case. “The natives of the Baltic countries quickly tried to acquire the citizenship of the states where they found themselves. However, after 1991, these documents were recognized in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia”, explained the interlocutor.
And he highlighted that the Baltic countries were officially recognized as occupied, while in relation to Belarus the term occupation “is used for political purposes, but formally no occupation took place in Belarus”. “The Republic of Belarus exists as an independent state. Belarusian diplomatic missions operate abroad, ambassadors present credentials. The Baltic countries did not have such an opportunity, the USSR did not even think to open any quasi-representations, for example, of Lithuania or Latvian SSR in the West, because they knew they would never receive recognition”, emphasized the historian.
According to him, if Belarus ceases to exist as an independent state and the West recognizes Russia’s occupation of the country, questions will arise about the fate of Belarusian missions and who will issue passports to citizens of the Republic of Belarus.
Source: DW
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