News

On 30 December in Moscow, State Secretary of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Evaldas Ignatavičius and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Chizhov signed a new agreement between the Lithuanian and Russian Governments on reciprocal travel arrangements for the citizens of both countries. The new agreement stipulates that Lithuanian citizens on their way to the Kaliningrad Region will be issued free multiple visas of one year’s validity without requiring any invitation. The same travel arrangements will apply for citizens of the Kaliningrad Region. Under the agreement, Lithuanian and Russian carriers will be able to obtain free multiple visas for one year without invitations through the mediation of the national carriers associations. Free visas without invitations will also be issued to disabled persons of the 1st group of both countries, senior citizens above 60, persons visiting graves of their relatives or travelling to attend cultural and sports events. Entrepreneurs of both countries will not need invitations to obtain visas, but they will have to prove they have sufficient means of subsistence in the entered country during the time of travel. The agreement is to come into force on 1 January 2003. Additionally, it was agreed that the previous travel arrangements would apply to Lithuanian citizens travelling to the Kaliningrad Region and to residents of Kaliningrad en route to Lithuania until 1 July 2003. On the day of signature of the agreement, Russia gave its permission to open a Lithuanian consulate in Sovietsk.