Belarus-EU: Access Denied

The present study focuses on the reasons for refusal of entry for Belarusian citizens into the EU in 2006-2011. Insignificant at first sight, the issue seems very important if one looks at the statistics. In 2011, 6,000 Belarusians were denied entry into the EU. By the total number of refusals, Belarus is very high on the list, fifth only to Albania, Ukraine, Russia and Serbia. The study's objective is to identify the challenges that Belarusians encounter most often at the EU external borders when traveling to the EU. This study analyzes the changes in the numbers of and reasons for refusals and provides explanations and recommendations in order to reduce the number of unpleasant experiences among the travelers to the EU.