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France, Russia should mutually ease visa rules - French PM

08 December 2010 04:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. France and Russia should mutually facilitate visa procedures, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in an interview with Russia’s government daily, APA reports quoting RIA Novosti.
"So far I suggested to our Russian partners that we should show a more flexible approach to formalities, related to visa issuance for Russian and French citizens," the French minister said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta to be published on Wednesday.
"It would have an immediate effect, allowing free travel for a greater number of our citizens," Fillon added.
He said that unsolved illegal migration issues prevent Russia and the European Union from mutually scraping visa requirements, but certain progress was made in recent months.
"But the work is yet to be completed. We cannot scrap visa regime until necessary measures are taken to curb risks of illegal migration in both directions," the French official said.
The French premier arrived to Moscow on an invitation from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and will begin his working visit later on Wednesday.
The Kremlin has made visa-free travel between Russia and the EU a foreign policy priority.
Russia submitted a draft agreement on scrapping the visa regime to the EU at the Russia-EU summit in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don on May 31, but Europe has been reluctant so far to move ahead with the issue amid concerns that a visa-free regime could lead to a rise in crime and illegal immigration.