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Belarusian border guards to take horses to patrol Augustow Canal’s territory

The Belarusian border guards who patrol the territory near the Augustow Canal will take horses, Chairman of the Belarus State Border Committee of Belarus Igor Rachkovsky told a session of the commission for the state boundary policy in Grodno Oblast. The session was held in Grodno on 30 August, BelTA has learnt. The participants of the session discussed the state program on development of the Belarusian part of the Augustow Canal. They also discussed the efficiency and the ways of further cooperation of the regional executive agencies and border services. According to Igor Rachkovsky, the Belarus State Border Committee is expected to change the status of the Augustow Canal-based Rudawka-Lesnaya border checkpoint. It will be transformed into a water-pedestrian-cycling border checkpoint. According to the Chairman of the Belarus State Border Committee, this issue will be included in the agenda of the forthcoming parliamentary session. At present, the Belarusian and Lithuanian sides are discussing the development of the Privalka-Svandubre pedestrian-cycling border checkpoint on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border. When these two border checkpoint are open, the direct waterway from Poland to Lithuania along the Augustow Canal will appear. According to Igor Rachkovsky, the Belarusian border service does its utmost to develop the tourist industry in the region of the Augustow Canal. The State Border Committee has decided to expand the border zone up to 50 km. The participants of the session got familiar with the work of the Belyany border checkpoint in Grodno District.