EU agrees to visa-free travel between Kaliningrad and Poland
Following the proposal adopted by the Commission in August 2011, facilitating border crossing for the citizens of the Kaliningrad Area, EU Ministers agreed on a general approach towards the agreement on visa-free local border traffic between Poland and the Kaliningrad Oblast.
- Curonian Lagoon by NASA
During the meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council an October 27-28, EU Ministers discussed, among others, a proposal amending EU rules on local border traffic, which would facilitate border crossing for the citizens of the Kaliningrad area.
Poland insisted from the beginning that all citizens of the Kaliningrad Oblast should benefit from the agreement, in order to “facilitate travel and prevent artificial divisions”. The agreement had to be prepared very carefully not to contradict European regulations on local border traffic from 2006, and it covers several Polish poviats – and not larger administrative units.
The agreement requires the approval of the European Parliament, but should the voting planned for the November plenary session turn out to be successful, it could enter into force even this year.
Source: Gazeta Wyborcza, EU Press Room
