Brussels, 29/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 29 July, the European Commission presented the press with its proposal to make life easier for people living in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, the only enclave of its kind situated between Poland and Lithuania (EUROPE 10428). In its proposal of an amendment to its rules on local cross-border traffic of 2006, the Commission is suggesting that Kaliningrad and various Polish districts located in the area be given the status of “border area”, a provision which will allow people living in these territories, further to the negotiation of a bilateral agreement between the authorities in question, to move around without a visa within a border area of between 30 and 50 kilometres, Michele Cercone, spokesperson to the competent Commissioner Cécilia Malmström, explained on Friday. This will mean that inhabitants of Kaliningrad, irrespective of their nationality, will be able to obtain special permits and facilitated entry conditions, Cercone added, but the authorities negotiating the bilateral agreement will nonetheless be able to impose certain criteria.
The proposal, which must now be discussed by the Council and the Parliament, also aims to increase commercial, social and cultural exchanges and regional cooperation within the area, “without affecting security”, as Malmström stated in a press release.
To date, four regimes of this kind have already been concluded, the Commission continued: between Hungary and Ukraine, Slovakia and Ukraine, Poland and Ukraine and between Romania and Moldova. Other agreements of this kind are also set to enter into force soon, notably between Poland and Belarus and between Norway and Russia. (S.P./transl.fl)