Vladimir Putin: Kaliningrad should become a bridge between Europe and Russia

"Kaliningrad should become a bridge between Europe, which is being united, and Russia", Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday in a joint interview [with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder] with the RTR TV channel and German television. According to the President, the questions pertaining to the region's infrastructure and the possibilities for its citizens to freely visit Russia and neighbouring countries worry Russia already now in a practical plane. "These are difficult questions," Vladimir Putin said. "We understand the anxiety of Europeans in connection with a single economic and visa space in Europe but this is the subject for negotiations between specialists. The signal has been given at the political level, and a good signal at that," the President stressed. On his part, the German chancellor agreed that under the conditions of expanding European Union, the Kaliningrad region can become a certain "bridge between the integrated Europe and Russia". He believes that the Kaliningrad region can play a great role in establishing economic and cultural relations between Europe and Russia.

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