Lithuania ratifies border crossing deal with Belarus

Lithuania's parliament on Tuesday ratified an agreement with neighbour Belarus allowing limited visa-free travel for border residents, saying it would strengthen ties.

Under the pact, signed last year and already ratified by Belarus, frontier-zone residents will be able get special permits for visa-free travel up to 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the border.

"Simplified border crossing will help strengthen ties between the public," Renata Lazdin, spokeswoman for Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis, told AFP.

She noted that current links are hampered by the European Union border, which splits the two ex-Soviet republics.

"It will be easier to keep up social, family and cultural ties that became complicated after Lithuania's Schengen entry."

The 50-kilometre travel rules are expected to come into force this year.

Border towns expect a rise in numbers of Belarusian visitors, but some in Lithuania worry the deal may also increase the illegal flow of cheap fuel, tobacco and alcohol from Belarus.

Lithuanians have strong ties with Belarusians. Villages on both sides of the frontier were often part of the same rural communities in Soviet times, split only by a local government border.

Like Belarus, Lithuania won independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991.

But the two countries have followed very different paths since then.

Lithuania is firmly anchored in the West, having joined the EU and NATO in 2004.

In 2007 it entered Europe's Schengen zone, where passport checks are dropped between member states but beefed up on external borders.

Lithuania has repeatedly said it is ready to help spur reforms in Belarus -- ruled since 1994 by authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko -- and steer it closer to the 27-nation EU.

Lithuanians and Belarusians have needed visas to visit each other's countries since 1993.

While Lithuania cannot give full and free access to the Schengen zone, it is also considering waiving its 60-euro ($79) fee for Lithuania-only visas, saying easier contacts will help bolster civil society in Belarus.