Unsettled Kaliningrad problem will violate Russian citizens' constitutional rights

The unsettled problem of life sustenance in the Kaliningrad region, Russia's enclave in the Baltic, in the context of the EU expansion "will inevitably lead to judicial and practical consequences encroaching on the constitutional rights and freedoms of Russian citizens," said chairman of the Council of Federation Sergei Mironov, when speaking at the meeting of the Association of European senators that opened on Friday in Ljubljana.

He recalled that at its last session the upper chamber of the Russian parliament had passed a special address to the European parliament, PACE and parliaments of Poland and Lithuania. The document stressed the necessity of life sustenance and development in the Kaliningrad region as in part of Russia.

"There are no reasons for the European MPs not to support the Russian stand on the issue," Mironov said. "Mutually acceptable solutions can and must be found, as human rights admit of no double standards," he said, adding that the decision should be "acceptable for both the EU and Russia."