Lithuanian parliament rejects Russian plan for visa-free transit to Kaliningrad

The Lithuanian parliament on Friday passed a resolution rejecting Moscow's plan for visa-free travel from the Russian mainland to its Kaliningrad enclave through Lithuanian territory.

"Lithuania categorically rejects any attempt to establish a transit corridor for passengers and goods from Russia to Kaliningrad via European Union territory," said the resolution.

"Lithuania is against Russia's memorandum to the European Commission offering that transit to Kaliningrad operate according Russian laws and the Russian offer of June 2004 on a visa-free (travel)", it added.

Before the vote, Arturas Paulauskas, the speaker of parliament, stressed the importance of the resolution ahead of the EU-Russian summit due in November, when the Kaliningrad issue is to be discussed.

"We would stress that any attempt to create a transit corridor will be rejected and we call on Russia to begin real cooperation with the EU on the Kaliningrad issue," Pauslauskas said.

Kaliningrad, a Russian Baltic enclave that is home to nearly one million people, is sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania, which both joined the EU on May 1.

Lithuania tightened its borders on July 1, 2003 in preparation for EU membership.

Under an EU-Russian agreement, Russian citizens travelling to Kaliningrad follow special rules and are issued so-called facilitated transit documents instead of visas.

Russia has been pressing for visa-free travel across Lithuania for Kaliningraders and the new document, effectively a low-cost easily-obtained multiple-entry visa, was seen as a face-saving compromise to allow Moscow to back down gracefully.