Opening the borders would be beneficial for the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries

"One of the main goals of the Eastern Partnership is to facilitate people-to-people contacts. This requires, inter alia, the introduction of visa facilitation or, ultimately, visa abolition for Eastern Partnership countries. These practical solutions are very important for people from the eastern border of the EU", said Jacek Protasiewicz during the public hearing on migration and mobility with Eastern Partnership* organised in Brussels.

"The opening the borders pays: the abuses are marginal and the benefits are real. Nothing shows the sense of the cooperation with the West so well as the possibility to travel to the EU without unnecessary consular procedures and unnecessary costs", he added.

"From the Polish experience we know that open borders always results in an increased cooperation. It gives an advantage in political and strategic terms. If the EU wants to attract Belarusians, Ukrainians, Moldovans, Georgians, Armenians or Azerbaijanis, it should be more attractive to them than for example Russia is. The EU has much more to offer, but it must not become a fortress with walls that are impenetrable to our Eastern neighbours", stressed the Vice-President of the European Parliament.

At the same time, he pointed out that the signing of visa waiver agreements is linked to the progress of political and economic reforms of the concerned countries.

"The EU is not giving anything for free. The reforms are linked to European integration. A trip to the West, that the majority of Eastern Partnership citizens have not had the chance to take yet, is however a tangible evidence which political model to choose: an autocratic government controlled by for example Lukashenka, or the western democracy and the free market", he concluded.