Poland Rejects EC Proposal on Kaliningrad Travel

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 19, 2002

Poland Rejects EC Proposal on Kaliningrad Travel

The Polish Foreign Ministry saidon Wednesday in a statement that Poland can not be used as a transit corridor for the residents of Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

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The Polish Foreign Ministry saidon Wednesday in a statement that Poland can not be used as a transit corridor for the residents of Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad.

The statement was issued in response to a new proposal unveiled early on Wednesday by the European Commission (EC), the executive body of the European Union (EU).

Under the proposal, after Lithuania's entry into the EU, Russian citizens would be able to travel between Kaliningrad and the rest of Russia through Lithuania on a non-international-standard passport or a simplified transit document without needing a fully fledged visa. The EC hoped that this practice would also apply to other candidate countries.

The Polish Foreign Ministry said in the statement that Poland will not adopt the practice proposed by the EC even though the initiative's details still need some further analysis.

In the spirit of reciprocity, long term and multiple entry-exitvisas will be issued to Russian citizens to guarantee the transits rights of people making frequent journeys, the statement added.

The EC's proposal was aimed at defusing a row with Moscow over the EU's eastward enlargement, because Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad will be surrounded by EU territory once neighboring Poland and Lithuania join the bloc, probably in 2004.

The proposal still needs approval from EU member states and thecandidate countries. Through this initiative, the EC hopes that a deal will be reached with Moscow over Kaliningrad in the coming Russia-EU summit to be held in Copenhagen in November.

Lithuania and Russia responded positively to the proposal. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis said the proposal provided an opportunity for resolving the problem, while he demanded that Lithuania and Poland be treated equally on the issueof transit.

The Russian presidential envoy for Kaliningrad, Dmintrij Rogozin, said the proposal was pushing the negotiations forward in the right direction, but he also noted that it could take a long time to reach a final agreement.

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