Murmansk - a pilot region on visa-free travel
Murmansk Oblast should become pilot region for visa-free travel between Russia and the European Union, speaker in the Murmansk regional parliament says.
Mr. Yevgenii Nikora said to journalists this week that Murmansk Oblast is lobbying the issue among federal authorities. The issue of visa-free travel in the border areas between Murmansk Oblast and neighbouring Norway was on the agenda when Nikora and his parliament colleagues this week met with representatives of legislative assemblies in northern Norway. -I believe that we can bring progress in the process on the level of the State Duma, and that we can push on the project [ ], Mr. Nikora said, B-port.com reports. He underlined that Russia should do what it can to get visa-free travel with the EU and with Norway. -Murmansk Oblast could become a pilot region for visa-free in the border areas, he stressed. He also underlined that Murmansk regional authorities now do what they can to improve road infrastructure towards Norway and Finland. During their recent meetings in Kirkenes and Murmansk, Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov and Jonas Gahr Støre decided to establish a bilateral working group, which is to elaborate on the possible establishment of a visa-free border zone between the two countries.
