RUSSIAN MFA INFORMATION AND PRESS DEPARTMENT COMMENTARY REGARDING A RUSSIAN MEDIA QUESTION CONCERNING NEWSPAPER PUBLICATIONS RELATING TO KALININGRAD PASSENGER TRANSIT

Unofficial translation from Russian

Question: Very soon Russian citizens will reportedly be able to cross the CIS countries' borders on foreign passports only. Can this affect passenger flows between the Kaliningrad Region and the rest of Russia?

Commentary: The mechanism for the facilitated visa-free passage of Russian citizens to and from the Kaliningrad Region by all types of ground transport, enacted from July 1, 2003, and worked out on the basis of the Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the European Union on Transit between the Kaliningrad Region and the Rest of the Russian Federation of November 11, 2002, has been functioning steadily and effectively.

In accordance with point 8 of the Joint Statement the Republic of Lithuania recognizes the inland passports of Russian citizens as grounds for the issuance of facilitated rail transit documents (FRTD) and facilitated transit documents (FTD) for citizens travelling by other types of ground transport only until December 31, 2004. After this date, as is written down in the Statement, "FRTD and FTD will be valid only given a foreign passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation." Furthermore, foreign passports with USSR symbols will be considered valid until December 31, 2005. In this connection the task has been set for the appropriate Russian ministries and departments as well as for the Kaliningrad Regional Administration until the end of 2004 to ensure the issuance of foreign passports to all the region's inhabitants in need of them. As of October 1, 2004, 407,000 (about 45%) inhabitants of the region had valid foreign passports. A 24-hour passport and visa center has opened in Kaliningrad, where it is possible to obtain a foreign passport in an emergency within three days. Measures are being prepared for realization, by which the affordability of passports will be ensured for low-income inhabitants.

In the context of the creation of favorable conditions for visa-free Kaliningrad transit the Russian Foreign Ministry is continuing to work with the European Commission and Lithuania on the implementation of the Brussels (November 11, 2002) understanding on a visa-free train for transit through the territory of Lithuania in trips to and from the Kaliningrad Region. On instructions from the EU Danish specialists presented a feasibility study for the project of a high-speed Kaliningrad-Moscow railway through Lithuania and Belarus. At present this document is being studied by the concerned Russian ministries and departments.

In addition, air and ferry services have now been established between the Kaliningrad Region and the rest of Russia, that require no showing of foreign passports.

October 20, 2004