Since December, Belarusian citizens who do not have a long-term residence permit in another country have been banned from leaving Belarus through official rail and road border crossing points. However, under the new rules, people with such permits will no longer be banned from leaving Belarus.
Belarus has been in a precarious situation since 9 August last year, when the country held presidential elections, in which Alexander Lukashenko was once again the winner. After the elections, mass protests began in the country, but by the winter they gradually subsided.
Last week, the Lukashenko regime deserved the outrage of the international community by forcing a Ryanair plane to change course and land in Minsk to detain Belarusian opposition and journalist Roman Protasevich.
