MINSK, May 29 (Sputnik) - Foreign citizens with Fan IDs, coming for the FIFA World Cup through Belarus, will be able to enter Russia without a Russian visa, as visa-free entry from Belarus to Russia will come into force on June 4, Head of the Belarusian Interior Ministry's Department of Citizenship and Migration Aleksey Begun told Sputnik on Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei signed a temporary agreement on mutual visa recognition for the upcoming 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 2019 European Games in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
“Officially the agreement is from June 1, but in practice it will be implemented from June 4, because the visa-free entry regime based on the Fan ID is valid from June 4. That is why fans will be able to travel [in transit through Belarus] on June 4,” Begun explained.
A FAN ID is a personalized document which is part of an identification system for football fans. Every individual who has a ticket to any World Cup match must obtain a FAN ID.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be held in Russia from June 14 till July 15.
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