MOSCOW. Jan 26 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian-Belarusian state border should remain open. However, Moscow and Minsk should switch to a single visa regime in order to bolster security at the border of the Union State in the future, the Border Service and the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said.
"We believe that the border should be open," deputy head of the Border Service Colonel General Nikolai Rybalkin told journalists on Friday in Moscow.
"We are maintaining transparency at the border together with Belarus, which has some of the most professional border guards. We value and learn a lot from them," he said.
The single border space within the Union State envisages the introduction of a single visa regime, the general said.
"Sooner or later we will achieve this, it is desirable to have our minds set as soon as possible," he aid.
A single visa regime is required, because Russia has been maintaining visa regimes with third countries that have no visa regime with Belarus, Rybalkin said.
"We are raising the issue of the necessity to have a common visa policy, as is done in Europe," the general said.