Translated material
Special article
The Kaliningrad region is trying to achieve a preferential visa regime for itself in the new agreement between Russia and the EU
The Russian Foreign Ministry has nothing against including a separate section on the issues of the Kaliningrad region in the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between the Russian Federation and the EU . Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Andrei Tsyganov told a Vremya Novostey correspondent about this. Negotiations on the PCA are expected to resume at the Russia-EU summit in Khanty-Mansiysk in June.The Kaliningrad region has been asking for its inclusion in the new agreement at various levels for several years now. The last time such an idea was expressed by the speaker of the regional parliament, Sergei Bulychev, was a month ago during a meeting with a group of members of the European Parliament. Then they answered him directly: “Do you want a separate provision for Kaliningrad in the new agreement? Then put pressure on Moscow, because they want to sign a document that is short in content and general in meaning.” EU Commissioner for Foreign Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner voiced approximately the same point of view last fall when she visited Kaliningrad. “The topic of Kaliningrad will not be included in any separate block in the new agreement,” she told a Vremya Novostei correspondent.
However, a senior representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Andrei Tsyganov, told Vremya Novostey that there is no point in blaming the problem on a healthy one. According to him, the Russian Foreign Ministry is completely calm about the idea of including the issues of the Kaliningrad region as a separate block in the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement with the European Union. “It was our department that at one time expressed such an idea. We consulted with the Kaliningrad government and found understanding on this issue. EU representatives spoke out in favor of making the agreement compact, framework, and not overloaded with specific details. The position of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is this: nothing prevents us from reaching an agreement and making an annex for the Kaliningrad region. From the EU, however, there are no special signs of approval yet,” explained Mr. Tsyganov.
Commenting on the unequivocal position of Benita Ferrero-Waldner, he made it clear that Madam European Commissioner is a fairly flexible negotiator: “When we began to very actively raise the Kaliningrad visa issue with her, she generally replied that all Russian considerations in this regard were far-fetched. But when the European Commissioner came here and felt the urgency of the issue, she realized that instead of simplifying visa procedures, Kaliningraders received complications. And her point of view changed."
The inclusion of the Kaliningrad region in the new PCA would get rid of a number of problems that the region has due to its unique geopolitical position. One obvious problem is visa difficulties experienced by residents of the Russian exclave on the Baltic. Previously, as compensation for their isolation from the “mainland” (the region is surrounded by EU countries and does not border Russia on land), they had free multiple-entry long-term visas to Poland and Lithuania, which were issued without invitations. Since the summer of 2007, the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the EU on the mutual simplification of visa procedures came into force, which turned into a complication for Kaliningrad residents - they lost preferential visas.
Russia tried to quickly correct the situation, but it did not work out. “Last year, together with our Lithuanian partners, we prepared an agreement that would allow, even after July 2007, to issue multiple-entry, long-term, free visas to residents of the Kaliningrad region and citizens of Lithuania, without an invitation. We have studied the Schengen legislation very carefully. It seemed to us and our Lithuanian partners that a legally clear solution to the problem had been found. But Brussels did not support him,” explained Mr. Tsyganov.
Now negotiations are beginning between Russia, Poland and Lithuania on the creation of border zones in the Kaliningrad region, the residents of which could travel to the neighboring country not with a visa, but with a special pass, which is cheaper and easier to obtain. “We consider such a regime only as an element that can to some extent mitigate, but not solve the Kaliningrad visa issue. We prepared our proposals not in isolation from local realities, but on a specific basis. They took maps, drew the boundaries of possible border zones and looked at which settlements were included and which were not. We expect that large cities, such as Klaipeda, will be included in the preferential border zone,” the diplomat added. If Klaipeda enters the preferential border zone, it would be quite reasonable to include Kaliningrad, which has a population of half a million. However, there is no clarity on this issue yet.
Regional Commissioner for Human Rights Irina Vershinina believes that Kaliningrad residents, having lost preferential visas, began to live worse. She invited Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg to the westernmost region of Russia so that he could deal with the difficult visa issue on the spot. “We understand that resolving visa issues is not within the competence of Mr. Hammarberg. However, we are sure that after visiting us, he will be able to draw the attention of the European Commission to the Kaliningrad problem,” says Ms. Vershinina.
She is ready to argue with those who are sure that the rights of residents of the region in obtaining visas and subsequent free movement are not infringed in any way. “From a formal point of view, everything is really normal, there are no violations. But the conditions for the implementation of a number of inalienable civil rights have seriously deteriorated. During the entire existence of the preferential regime for issuing Polish and Lithuanian visas, Kaliningrad residents have not become famous for anything bad. On the contrary, residents of the region have proven themselves to be respectable and law-abiding people. So why did you need to cancel the established regime?” - she gives her arguments.
The Ombudsman's initiative has already been discussed in the Regional Duma Committee on International Affairs. The head of this committee, Boris Batalin, told Vremya Novostey that he cannot completely agree with Irina Vershinina’s point of view, but is ready to support any initiative aimed at liberalizing the visa regime for Kaliningrad residents.