Visas for visitors from east to begin mid-2003

As a condition of continued negotiations with the European Union (EU), visitors to Poland from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus will be required to hold visas in order to enter the country starting mid-2003. The European Co mmission states that six months before joining the union is the absolute latest that a new law concerning visas for these countries has to be i ntroduced. The biggest problem will be with Ukraine as Poland has given a promise not to introduce visas till the day of the entry to the union. "It's a huge task, taking into account that in the year 2000 we had 5.9 million visitors from Belarus and 6.1 million from Ukraine, and our consulates around the world issued 185,000 visas the same year," said one of Poland's EU negotiators. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 11) A.K.