8 May 2009
Belarus, Spain coordinate draft agreement on children’s recuperation
MINSK, May 8 (BelTA) – Belarus and Spain have coordinated the draft intergovernmental agreement on recuperation of Belarusian children in the Kingdom of Spain. The talks were held in the Department for Humanitarian Activity of the Property Management Directorate of the President of Belarus and involved officials of the Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Health and Social Policy of Spain and also the Embassy of Spain in Russia and Belarus (on concurrent), BelTA learnt from the head of the directorate, Alexander Kolyada. Belarus plans to conclude similar agreements with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Kingdom of Lichtenstein. Alexander Kolyada stressed that in February this year Belarus and Germany concluded an agreement spelling out the terms of recuperation of underage Belarusians in Germany. Belarus and Ireland signed a similar agreement in February. The document was signed by Justin Harman, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ireland to the Russian Federation and Belarus (on concurrent), and Alexander Kolyada, Director of the Department for Humanitarian Activity of the Property Management Directorate of the President of Belarus. In April, the Republic of Belarus and the Kingdom of the Netherlands signed the government-to-government agreement on the recuperation of underage citizens of Belarus (notes were exchanged between the Foreign Ministries of Belarus and the Netherlands). The first group of 31 children from the Yelsk region of the Gomel oblast went for recuperation to Holland on April 26. In January-April 2009, over 1,000 children visited five foreign countries in line with the programme on humanitarian cooperation with foreign civil organisations and by means of foreign grant assistance. This year the Belarusian children went for recuperation to the following countries: Italy - 613, Germany - 298, the Netherlands - 84, France – 21 and Great Britain – 20 children.БЕЛТА