German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in a letter to the EU Commission confirms that his country is ready to change position on the issue of the service passport holders. Germany has been one of the key opponents of the Russian demand to grant exclusive visa-free travel for the special group of Russian civil servants.
For more than a year, the issue has deadlocked talks on visa facilitation between the sides.
The holders of service passports include more than 100 thousand people, first of all representatives of Russian state and regional authorities including the Presidential Administration, the Government, State Duma, courts, the Central Bank, state corporations, and service personnel at diplomatic offices.
The change of position in the German government might ultimately open the way for a new visa agreement between the EU and Russia. Several of the other countries, which are skeptical to the Russian demand, might now follow suit with the Germans. Also Luxembourg has changed its position, while Spain is ready for full visa-free travel with the Russians right away, Interfax reports.
“This is a very positive step”, Russian chief negotiator Anvar Azimov says to newspaper Kommersant. “We are happy that common sense finally got the upper hand”, he underlines, arguing that a new visa agreement now might be within reach.
Originally, Russia worked for the introduction of full visa-free travel with the EU by the Sochi 2014 Olympics
The change of the German position on the service passport issue could help improve relations with Russia, over the last year increasingly strained following Russian encroachment on the rights of the political opposition and civil society groups.
