Speaker of parliament's upper house: Russia's adherence to Schengen Treaty is a workable prospect

According to the report of the RIA Novosti correspondent, on Saturday in reply to questions of journalists in relation to prospects of the settlement of the so-called Kaliningrad problem (the Kaliningrad region is a Russian enclave in the West), Speaker of the Federation Council (upper house of the parliament) Sergei Mironov stated that the idea expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin of Russia joining the Schengen Treaty "is a workable prospect which one should attempt to implement." Mironov stressed that Russia was insisting on provision of a non-visa regime to its citizens traveling into the Kaliningrad region and back. The chairman of the upper house of the parliament stated that "while talking about possible introduction of visas for Russian citizens to travel into that region, the European Union kept forgetting about the right of our citizens to move freely in the territory of their own country." He was confident that Russia together with the European Union was able to find a normal "technical solution" to that problem without introducing visas. He was confident that "the European Union has got no real justifications not to agree the matter with Russia." According to Mironov, the European Union "is able to make an exception for Russia as the Kaliningrad region was a semi-enclave which was existing separately from the mainland Russia." He stated that in its turn Russia would be able also to come to a compromise solution and to implement "all conditions to ensure the necessary level of control over the passenger travels." At the same time Mironov stressed that such travels might be arranged without introduction of special vouchers.