MINSK, June 1 (BelTA) – The Republic of Belarus and the Kingdom of Spain signed an intergovernmental agreement on the recuperation of underage Belarusians in Spain on June 1, BelTA has learnt. The document was signed by Director of the Department for Humanitarian Activities of the Belarus President Property Management Directorate Alexander Kolyada and Counselor of the Embassy of Spain in Russia and Belarus (concurrent accreditation) Jesus Atienza Serna. According to Alexander Kolyada, safe stay of Belarusian children and their unquestioned return to the home country were the key conditions of the agreement. By the way, the first group of children will travel to Spain for recreation in late June. Alexander Kolyada said such agreements had been sent to 23 countries and none has refused to sign it. Soon Belarus will sign such an agreement with Belgium. Jesus Atienza Serna remarked that the agreement is an important document both for Spanish families and Belarusian children. “We are interested in increasing the number of children travelling to Spain for recreation taking into account the positive experience of previous years,” said the diplomat. In 1993-2008 over 71,000 Belarusian children have been to Spain on recuperation trips, including over 2,300 ones in 2008 (6% of all the children that have enjoyed recreation abroad). The recuperation projects are run by eight Belarusian and 60 Spanish organizations. In 2008 the Spanish charity organization Anida and the Belarusian public organizations Children in Distress and Ulyana implemented a project in Belarus providing recuperation to 32 children suffering from diabetes and cancer. The project was estimated at Br34.5 million.

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