I am often surprised how uncivilized the Belarusian government behaves in terms of moneymaking. Riga’s MIX-FM radio reported that Belarus was not going to abolish visa fees for Latvians. It would be logical to do so, congruent with the reciprocity principle – Latvia had already taken the dues off for Belarusians. But during the consular consultations, the Belarusian side declared that the fees would not be lifted, this year at least, because this question was intertwined with the state budget.
Of course, free visas to Latvia won’t be offered for long. The grace period will be wrapped up when Latvia joins the Schengen countries – and this may happen as soon as next year. In other words, Latvians can forget about free visas to Belarus.