Brussels, 27/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, the European Commission welcomed the signing of the border treaty between Russia and Latvia. The agreement had already been initialed in October 1997 and was signed in Moscow on Tuesday by the heads of government from the two countries, Mikhail Fadkov and Aigars Kalvitis. Commission President José Manuel Barroso said on Tuesday: “I am sure it is a decisive step towards the development of stable relations between both countries and will facilitate the EU-Russia cooperation in areas of common interests such as border management and cross border initiatives, transit of goods and illegal migration”. The Commission also expressed its hope that the message emanating from this agreement would allow for progress to be made towards the rapid signing of the border agreement between Russian and the other EU Baltic state, Estonia. (hb)