Visa News

Kaliningrad legislature advocates visa-free travel for EU citizens

MOSCOW, June 8 (RIA Novosti) — The Kaliningrad regional legislature wants to introduce visa-free travel for EU citizens, the Izvestia daily said Wednesday. This measure would also help solve the Kaliningrad transit problem. Currently residents of Kaliningrad must have simplified visas and passports when traveling from this Baltic enclave to mainland Russia through Lithuania. The bill was submitted to the Russian parliament for consideration.
The regional legislature first sent such proposals to the State Duma in December 2002. “The State Duma viewed this as a harmful and separatist initiative,” the bill’s author Vladimir Yezhikov said. “Most of my colleagues supported the bill in February 2005.” The deputies want to grant visa-free access to foreigners who will spend up to 90 days in the region. The bill’s authors hope that EU countries will then allow visa-free travel to mainland Russia and back.
The Russian Foreign Ministry’s regional mission reacted negatively to the idea. “A visa-free regime is premature,” foreign ministry official Nikolai Belovol said.
The regional legislature has its own argument. The latest opinion poll shows that two-thirds of all local residents want to live in Russia. However, they want the region to have its own legislation with regard to EU countries.