January 21, Pozirk. Spain is committed to protecting human rights in Belarus and will recognize expired Belarusian passports, according to a document with relevant instructions shared by the team of Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.
The document, issued two days ago, cited Alaksandar Łukašenka’s edict signed in September 2023 that prohibits Belarusian missions abroad from providing passport services to Belarusians. The measure was designed to force exiled Belarusians, around 6,000 in Spain alone, to return to Belarus to obtain or renew their passports, despite the real risk of arrests for political reasons, it noted.
Spain will become the seventh European Union country, after Austria, Cyprus, Lithuania, France, Sweden and Estonia, to recognize expired Belarusian passports.
Cichanoŭskaja lobbied for these regulations during her visit to Madrid in June 2025.
