- Sergey Sergeyevich, what does this agreement mean for Russia?
- We are talking about a document that regulates the issues of acceptance and return of citizens of these countries who arrive illegally on the territory of Russia and Lithuania. In our international legal practice, this is the first document of its kind. This is a sort of pilot project that we have worked out with Lithuania. In principle, if we want to be a civilized state, and we want to be one, we will have to sign such documents with other states as well. In particular, negotiations are underway on this topic with the European Union.
- Why did Lithuania turn out to be the first?
- In the case of Lithuania, we had and still have time-bound obligations. This is connected with the functioning of the entire simplified Kaliningrad transit scheme. The joint statement of the Russia-EU summit of November 11, 2002, recorded that the agreement must be fully prepared and put into effect by July 1, 2003. The obligations we assumed prompted us to speed up work precisely with the Lithuanian side.
After today's signing, the document must be ratified in both Russia and Lithuania. The fact is that since this document affects human rights and involves certain financial expenditures, under our laws it is subject to ratification.
Overall, this is a first experience, a first project, a first agreement that will be used as the basis and foundation for developing similar agreements with other states.
- Does the signing of this agreement bring closer the conclusion of an international treaty on visa-free exchange between Russia and the EU and the inclusion of Russia on the relevant list?
- These two issues are not directly related, but one implies the other. It is clear that when we, the Russian side, raise the question of transitioning in the future to a visa-free regime for entry of citizens of the Russian Federation and the European Union, we understand that this is a difficult task that, of course, cannot be solved overnight. This requires completing a certain 'homework' on our part, as well as on the part of the European Union.
The presence of readmission documents between Russia and the European Union is an indispensable element of the prospect of transitioning to visa-free exchange, an initiative put forward last autumn by our president. Although, of course, not everything is exhausted by this agreement alone. There are many other issues, in particular related to streamlining the situation on our long border, the procedure for crossing it, and so on. It is clear that the task cannot be solved quickly, but at the same time, water does not flow under a lying stone.
- How many illegal migrants, Russian citizens, will be expelled from Lithuania after the readmission agreement comes into force?
- The agreement regulates the procedure for returning citizens who find themselves illegally on the territory of such a state. We do not yet have real statistical experience. But in the course of work on the agreement, our experts from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Migration Service, together with Lithuanian colleagues, roughly estimated how many illegal migrants might be involved. It turned out to be from several dozen to a hundred people a year. Therefore, when we made financial calculations of how much this would cost Russia, we proceeded from precisely these data. But practice may turn out to be richer than our estimates.
GALINA ROGACHEVA,
VIKTORIA MALYUTINA