07/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - Back from his trip to Lithuania, Latvia and Kaliningrad, from 23 to 27 July, the President of the Committee of the Regions, Jos Chabert, said he was "very pleased" to see the progress achieved in the two candidate countries in their preparations for EU membership. He especially welcomed "the openness" of Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus to the idea of developing the role of local and regional authorities in Europe and the approval that Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga is said to have shown as to the importance of the role of the Committee of the Regions. "There is room for contacts between regions, relations between Russia and the European Union must not only be a question of contacts between Brussels and the Federal Administration of Moscow", he added regarding his visit to Kaliningrad.