How isolated is Belarus? Analysis of consular statistics of the Schengen states in 2007-2011

In December of 2007, several countries of the ‘new Europe’, including all the EU member states, neighbouring Belarus on the west (Latvia, Lithuania and Poland), joined the Schengen area. As a result, the citizens of Belarus, pursuing the intention to visit the EU, faced more difficulties: the visa fee was raised by several times and the submission procedures for visa applications became more complicated. This, in turn, led to a sharp reduction in the number of visas issued by the consulates of the Schengen countries in Belarus in 2008. At present, a few years after the expansion of the Schengen area, the following questions need to be examined: to what extent the EU countries have overcome these negative effects for the visa routines and to what extent the EU visa policy deepens the isolation of the Belarusian society.