Belarus Reports 18,835 Visa-Waiver Travelers from 38 European States Since January

(BELARUS) – Belarus said its visa-waiver program for citizens of 38 European states brought in 18,835 travelers since 1 January 2026, a total that does not match a separate claim that about 92,000 visa-waiver travelers had entered from Europe over the same period.

The figures, published in official Belarusian information, place the 2026 count well below that higher number. They also show a broader total of more than 210,000 foreign citizens from those 38 countries since 1 January 2025.

Belarus also kept the program in place through 31 December 2026, extending visa-free entry for travelers from the participating European countries. The rules allow entry without a visa for stays of up to 30 days from the date of entry.

The program covers entry through all international road and rail border crossing points, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Belarusian tourism authorities repeat the same terms, including the extension through the end of 2026 and the coverage of 38 states.

That makes the policy straightforward on paper. Citizens of the participating countries do not need a visa, and visa-waiver travelers can enter Belarus over land by road or rail and remain for 30 days.

What remains less straightforward is the arithmetic around the public figures. A total of about 92,000 travelers since 1 January 2026 does not align with the official count of 18,835 for the 38-country visa-free regime over that span.

It also does not sit neatly beside the larger official figure of more than 210,000 foreign citizens from those same countries since 1 January 2025. That longer time frame runs across 2025 and into 2026, while the lower 18,835 figure covers only the period from the start of this year.

One explanation is that the 92,000 number refers to a different time window. Another is that it counts a narrower group of countries, or travelers entering under a different Belarus border arrangement rather than the full visa-waiver scheme for 38 European states.

Belarus has not presented the 92,000 number alongside the official totals tied to the current 38-country program. The published figures attached to that regime are 18,835 since 1 January 2026 and more than 210,000 since 1 January 2025.

The extension through 31 December 2026 keeps in place one of Belarus’s main travel access measures for European visitors arriving over land. In practical terms, the policy means visa-waiver travelers from the listed states can continue crossing at all international road and rail points without first applying for a visa.

The reference to road and rail crossings is also central to how the program operates. Belarusian authorities describe the access in geographic terms rather than as a limited pilot at selected checkpoints, saying the visa-free regime applies at all international road and rail border crossing points.

That broad access matters for regional movement because it defines where travelers can use the waiver, not merely who qualifies for it. A citizen of one of the 38 European states can enter without a visa through those land crossings and stay for up to 30 days from entry.

Belarus has used the program to present itself as open to short-term European travel despite wider political isolation and border scrutiny in the region. The official numbers show that the waiver still brings in visitors, though at a scale far below the claimed 92,000 arrivals if the comparison is limited to the period since 1 January 2026.

The difference between 18,835 and 92,000 is large enough to shape how the program is understood. A figure in the tens of thousands suggests moderate but bounded traffic under the current year’s waiver terms; a figure near one hundred thousand suggests a much heavier flow.

That is why the date attached to each count matters. The official Belarusian total of more than 210,000 covers a period beginning on 1 January 2025, while the narrower official figure of 18,835 starts on 1 January 2026.

Neither of those published totals produces about 92,000 visa-waiver travelers for the current year under the 38-country regime as described by Belarusian authorities. Any number that high would have to rest on a different cut of the data, a different program, or a different span of time.

The core terms of the policy, though, are not in dispute in the official descriptions. Belarus extended visa-free entry for citizens of 38 European states through 31 December 2026, allowed access through all international road and rail border crossing points, and set the permitted stay at 30 days.

For travelers considering overland entry, those are the details that govern the trip: no visa requirement for eligible citizens, land access through international road and rail crossings, and a stay capped at 30 days. For anyone tracking the scale of the program, the official counts now in circulation are 18,835 since 1 January 2026 and more than 210,000 since 1 January 2025.