Putin: Visa Deal Key for EU-Russia Relations
Nikolaus von Twickel - Moscow Times - themoscowtimes.com - 6.4.12 - JRL 2012-100
STRELNA - A true partnership with the European Union is only possible after scrapping visa barriers, President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of the 27-member bloc Monday.
Liberalizing visa policy "is the best basis of our relations," Putin said in opening remarks at the EU-Russsia summit in a historic palace overlooking the Baltic Sea outside St. Petersburg.
As an example, Putin said Kremlin pool journalists risked illegally overstaying their visits to Berlin and Paris during Putin's trip to the cities last Friday because they had been given visas that lasted only a day.
"We started the press conference quite late and they faced the risk of overstaying their visa. Well, should they get up and leave, or what?" Putin asked.
Moscow has been pressing Brussels on lifting travel restrictions, but some EU member states have been wary of doing this quickly. Both sides agreed at a summit in December to implement a list of more than 40 common steps, including safer passports and border posts, which Moscow says it wants to carry out by next year.
EU Council President Herman van Rompuy and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso did not respond directly to Putin's comment and Barroso said merely that he welcomed "substantial progress" on the issue.
Putin also said that his guests from Brussels had agreed Sunday that Moscow's policy of giving priority to a Eurasian Union encompassing former Soviet states would not threaten cooperation with the EU.
"We agreed that this is no problem," Putin said.
Putin had hosted an informal dinner for the EU leadership Sunday evening.
Van Rompuy said he welcomed a Eurasian Union "if it adheres to WTO rules." Moscow signed its access protocol for the World Trade Organization in December and is expected to enter fully later this year. Van Rompuy added that both sides had a solid track record of cooperation but that a lot of potential remains untapped.
Barroso said he shared Putin's "ambition" for a free trade zone "from Lisbon to Vladivostok" but added that both sides have to agree on a wide-ranging partnership agreement first.
Putin said such an agreement can be achieved in "1 1/2 to two years," but warned that it would have to be free of "ideological stereotypes."
Talks about a so-called Partnership and Cooperation Agreement have been hampered by spats over Moscow's protectionist trade policies in the past and later stalled as Moscow had not entered the WTO. They are expected to resume later this year.
Keywords: Russia, Europe, EU, Visas - Russian News - Russia
STRELNA - A true partnership with the European Union is only possible after scrapping visa barriers, President Vladimir Putin told the leaders of the 27-member bloc Monday.
Liberalizing visa policy "is the best basis of our relations," Putin said in opening remarks at the EU-Russsia summit in a historic palace overlooking the Baltic Sea outside St. Petersburg.
As an example, Putin said Kremlin pool journalists risked illegally overstaying their visits to Berlin and Paris during Putin's trip to the cities last Friday because they had been given visas that lasted only a day.
"We started the press conference quite late and they faced the risk of overstaying their visa. Well, should they get up and leave, or what?" Putin asked.
Moscow has been pressing Brussels on lifting travel restrictions, but some EU member states have been wary of doing this quickly. Both sides agreed at a summit in December to implement a list of more than 40 common steps, including safer passports and border posts, which Moscow says it wants to carry out by next year.
EU Council President Herman van Rompuy and Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso did not respond directly to Putin's comment and Barroso said merely that he welcomed "substantial progress" on the issue.
Putin also said that his guests from Brussels had agreed Sunday that Moscow's policy of giving priority to a Eurasian Union encompassing former Soviet states would not threaten cooperation with the EU.
"We agreed that this is no problem," Putin said.
Putin had hosted an informal dinner for the EU leadership Sunday evening.
Van Rompuy said he welcomed a Eurasian Union "if it adheres to WTO rules." Moscow signed its access protocol for the World Trade Organization in December and is expected to enter fully later this year. Van Rompuy added that both sides had a solid track record of cooperation but that a lot of potential remains untapped.
Barroso said he shared Putin's "ambition" for a free trade zone "from Lisbon to Vladivostok" but added that both sides have to agree on a wide-ranging partnership agreement first.
Putin said such an agreement can be achieved in "1 1/2 to two years," but warned that it would have to be free of "ideological stereotypes."
Talks about a so-called Partnership and Cooperation Agreement have been hampered by spats over Moscow's protectionist trade policies in the past and later stalled as Moscow had not entered the WTO. They are expected to resume later this year.