Problem of Russia's Baltic enclave to be discussed at PACE session

The discussion of the Kaliningrad region (Russia's westernmost enclave at the Baltic Sea) problem, to be discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe /PACE/ on September 25, can yield positive results for Russia, Nikolai Tulayev, the Kaliningrad region representative in the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, told in his phone interview with RIA Novosti.

He will participate in PACE's regular session in Strasbourg.

According to Tulayev, "the leading European powers", particularly France and Germany, realize that "it is impossible to solve the Kaliningrad region problem, infringing upon the right of Russians to free movement about the territory of their own country." Moreover, there has been a drastic change in the positions of Poland and Lithuania, which are ready to enter the European Union, the senator believes. "Now these countries understand that an attempt to solve the problem unilaterally, the introduction of a visa regime will be to the detriment of their own national interests, since the countries are closely related with Russia economically," Tulayev said.

At PACE hearings on the matter Russia will stick to the position of "inalienability of democratic principles, which presuppose the right to free movement about the territory of man's own country", the official pointed out. "We shall remind you once again that human rights are universal and uniform, and that, as a democratic organization, PACE is on guard of these principles," Tulayev said.