Speaking at a press conference, Minister Sikorski emphasised: ‘it is an important success which is illustrated by the fact that we have here representatives of the local authorities of the Kaliningrad Oblast and of the Polish provinces of Warmia, Mazury and Pomerania. This shows that regional communities have been waiting for this agreement and that this newly-arisen situation in which Russia is our supportive neighbour will now be used for the good of both countries’.

When addressing the press, Minister Lavrov admitted: ‘Immediately after the agreement has been ratified by our Parliament and has come into force, our citizens resident in the area of Kaliningrad and the citizens of Poland resident in the two provinces will be able to cross the border on the basis of a permit issued for two years, and subsequently for five years’. Minister Lavrov also thanked Minister Sikorski for his ‘perseverance and personal contribution’, thanks to which the agreement could be signed.

The Polish and Russian heads of diplomacy discussed bilateral cooperation, the EU-Russia relations as well as cross-border cooperation.

While in Moscow, Minister Sikorski also met representatives of the Russian civil society.

Marcin Bosacki
Press Spokesman

See also:

• Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Rules of Local Border Traffic - english version
  
  
• Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Rules of Local Border Traffic - polish version
  
  
• Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the Russian Federation on the Rules of Local Border Traffic - russian version
  
  

Photo: Paweł Supernak / PAP