RUSSIA SEEKS TO SETTLE THE ISSUE OF THE KALININGRAD REGION WITH THE EUROPEAN UNION








KALININGRAD, March 8, 2001. / RIA Novosti correspondent /. Russia seeks to reach a binding, legally formalised agreement with the European Union on the Kaliningrad region issue. The Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov said this in an interview with Kaliningradskaya pravda newspaper.


	In view of the EU forthcoming expansion, the minister said, the Kaliningrad region might be confronted with a whole number of problems, such as transport communication between the region and the rest of Russia, the visa regime for the region's residents, energy supplies for the region, and fishing in the Baltic Sea. Igor Ivanov pointed out that his ministry was conducting consultations with the EU on all specific questions of vital importance for the Kaliningrad region.


	The Russian foreign minister noted that Moscow was planning to hold bilateral consultations with Poland and Lithuania on the problems of the Kaliningrad region. They will be held, in particular, during the visit of Valdas Adamkus, Lithuania's president, to Moscow, which is slated for late March.


	Igor Ivanov stressed that Moscow was prepared to regard Kaliningrad as "a laboratory for developing new forms of cooperation" with the European Union. He pointed out that Moscow was prepared to support all forms of the region's cooperation with the European Union aimed at resolving real problems facing the region.


	In Igor Ivanov's opinion, progress in this area could be possibly achieved at a "Northern Dimension" conference due this April in Luxemburg. Presently, the main objective is to make consultations with the European Union on the Kaliningrad issue more specific and aimed at resolving real problems, Igor Ivanov said in conclusion.