The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement to Ukraine with a proposal to organize seasonal access to Belarusian territory for the Ukrainian population living near the border for the sake of gathering wild berries and mushrooms, BelTA has learned.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized: “The Belarusian side takes measures to organize seasonal simplified access to the Republic of Belarus for Ukrainian citizens living in the border area to gather wild plants on our territory. The State Border Committee of Belarus is ready to organize simplified crossing of the state border via three checkpoints: Mutvitsa, Khinichev, and Selishche. A note with the relevant proposals was handed over to Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in the Republic of Belarus Ivan Novitsky at the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.”
“We emphasize: this is not a political gesture,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted. “This is a rational, life-driven proposal in the interests of ordinary people living in the border area. The forest provides a major boost to their households. We understand it and offer a well-established mechanism to preserve the habitual way of life without building artificial barriers.”
“We expect a response from the Ukrainian side. We are convinced that even in the current complicated conditions such steps represent normal practice of good-neighborly relations,” the statement of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reads.