The proposal was reportedly discussed during an open dialogue held by the National Olympic Committee of Belarus.

"If we talk about the European Games that will last for some 10 to 12 days, the period of the visa-free stay is most likely to be extended," the Organising Committee's first vice-president Maksim Ryzhenkov was quoted as saying by the BeITA news agency.

"It is still early to speak about the measures we are going to apply to do this."

Currently, citizens from only nine countries can enter Belarus indefinitely without visas.

These include just five nations who participate at the European Games: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Russia.

Citizens of five other European countries do not need visas if they are staying for a maximum of either 30 or 90 days.

A new policy introduced in February allows visa-free entry for a maximum of five days from an additional 80 countries, including all European Union citizens, providing they are arriving and departing from Minsk National Airport.

By rolling this scheme out further for the European Games, it is hoped it will encourage greater tourism for the country as a whole in addition to the sporting competition itself.

It remains to be seen if this scheme would include Kosovo, the European Olympic Committees (EOC) member which is not recognised as an independent nation by Belarus.

Ryzhenkov, an ex-officio member of the EOC who was speaking at an event entitled "Volunteer is the Soul of Sport", also spoke enthusiastically about progress.

"In the recent years we have demonstrated to the world our ability and the readiness of our specialists and volunteers to host such events at a high organisational level," he said.

"The 2014 International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship was a tough exam for us and we passed it with honours. 

"The sports infrastructure necessary to host the 2019 European Games is almost ready. 

"The Head of State has taken all necessary decisions to complete the construction or reconstruction of sports facilities. 

"We have enough hotels to accommodate the guests; a Village for athletes is ready. 

"Among the matters that need to be addressed are some technical issues to provide high-quality broadcasting, and security issues. 

"We can say that Belarus demonstrates almost absolute readiness for the 2019 European Games."

Minsk was confirmed as host of the second continental-wide Games at the EOC General Assembly in the city in October.

It will follow the inaugural edition in Azerbaijan's capital Baku in 2015.