Russia, Saint-Petersburg
Date: 2003.06.28 16:35

Vladimir Putin: Kaliningrad Should Become Cooperation Zone for Russia
and EU

KALININGRAD, June 28. Kaliningrad should become a region for
cooperation between Russia and the European Union, according to a
statement by President Vladimir Putin. The president was speaking to
students at Kaliningrad State University yesterday as part of a two-day
visit to the region.

'The fact that the Kaliningrad Region has become a Russian enclave
within Europe sets us difficult challenges,' said Putin. 'So far we
have only taken the first few steps to meet these challenges. These
include agreements on visa-free transit, borders and readmission. We
still have to do a lot more with the help of our European partners.'

Putin named the region's infrastructural problems, including transport,
energy and communications, as the first tasks that need to be tackled.
'It is also necessary to tighten security on Russia's southern borders,
where drug trafficking takes place, and not on its northern border,
where there is no drug trafficking and it is hard to imagine a flow of
illegal immigrants into St. Petersburg,' the president said.
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©2001-2002 Rosbalt News Agency

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