Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania

The decision of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council on issuing the EU Schengen visas to third country citizens will come into force as from 1 January 2007, substantially increasing the fee for the issue of Schengen visas. Upon its admission to the Schengen area Lithuania will be obligated to implement this Council decision and denounce the bilateral agreements currently in force, which establish favourable visa regimes for the neighbouring states of Lithuania and at the same time of the EU.

            In view of the above, the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania:
             welcomes the agreements facilitating the visa regime concluded between the EU and the Russian Federation and the Ukraine, as well as the emerging initiatives to open negotiations for facilitating visa regime for the Republic of Moldova and the Balkan countries; 
             states that such agreements on simplification of the visa regime from EU to the Transcaucasian states are currently not under discussion despite the latter’s request;
            states that a new agreement with the Russian Federation will worsen the conditions of travelling between Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Region;
           draws attention to the fact that increasing of the fee of the EU Schengen visa from 1 January 2007 will impair the possibilities of the citizens of Belarus, the Transcaucasian states  to travel to the Schengen area states, moreover, the new fees for the issue of the Schengen visa are not in keeping with the standard of living of the citizens of those countries;
           points out that the raising of the fee for the issue of the EU Schengen visa may have a negative impact on the democratisation process in these countries and tarnish the image of the EU and that this is not compatible with the goals of the European Neighbourhood policy;
          believes that it is of utmost significance to create equal opportunities for communication with the citizens of the new neighbouring states of the EU and to spare no effort to strengthen the aspirations of these states to implement the reforms and to develop the European values;
         invites the EU Member States, the European Parliament, the European Commission to actively bring into life the European Neighbourhood policy, to endorse the Commission’s mandate for negotiations on the simplification for Moldova of the visa regime by the end of 2006, to commence the discussion of simplification of the visa regime for Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and to seek ways and means, including unilateral, to ease the visa regime for the citizens of Belarus and residents of the Kaliningrad Region of the Russian Federation.    

 

 

SPEAKER OF THE SEIMAS                                                           VIKTORAS MUNTIANAS