RUSSIA LAGS BEHIND EUROPEAN STANDARDS, WARNS PUTIN








MOSCOW, March 6. /RIA Novosti/. Russia is below European standards for today, President Vladimir Putin confessed in an internet interview.


	The present-day united Europe has stringent rules, and he is not sure Russia is quite up to them. In particular, its southern frontier is not guarded well enough in contrast to united Europe, with tough frontier and customs arrangements, which go together with democratic patterns, said the President, who described the Schengen arrangements as "very strict and serious".


	Russia is determined to proceed from its contacts with the European community as it updates its legal basis to adjust economic and any other patterns to those accepted throughout Europe, whose part and parcel it is.


	Moscow appeals to Central and Eastern Europe to preserve for some time exceptional relations with Russia for its sake and the entire Europe's. The appeal has met understanding, so Russia has ample grounds to hope eventually to come ever closer to European standards. In a long prospect, it has the chance to fully integrate in the united Europe, said the President.