On 23rd September in Copenhagen, Denmark the ERB Executive Board adopted a joint statement in support of ongoing process to introduce the local border traffic regime on the border with the Kaliningrad Region.
The statement reads as follows: The Executive Board of Euroregion Baltic fully supports the efforts taken by the Governments of the Republic of Poland and of the Russian Federation to implement a bilateral agreement offering advantages to border residents crossing the external borders of the Member States of the European Union. We believe it justifiable that the border area is extended to allow residents in the Kaliningrad Region and neighbouring regions of Poland to benefit fully from the local border regime.
The aim of this statement is provide additional stimulus to the negotiations which are now held between the Polish and Russian governments in order to allow the inhabitants of the Kaliningrad Region and of the Polish Regions of Warmińsko-Mazurskie and Pomorskie living in the border area (not more than 30 kilometres from the border and up to 50 kilometres in exceptional circumstances) to travel across the border based on a permit without the need of having a valid visa. Such bilateral agreements between the EU Member States and the Russian Federation are possible and in accordance with the Regulation (EC) No 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 December 2006 laying down rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the Member States and amending the provisions of the Schengen Convention, and the Agreement on the facilitation of the issuance of visas to the citizens of the European Union and the Russian Federation from 17th May 2007.