The possibility of including all of Kaliningrad Oblast in a visa-free travel regime has been raised by the Polish side in meetings with the EU Commission, Sikorski told BarentsObserver during his visit to Oslo last week. The foreign minister stressed that the freedom to travel is a basic human right and that the Schengen regulations must not turn Europe into a fortress. He confirmed that Poland has signed agreements both with Ukraine and Belarus on the establishment of 30 km zones of visa-free travel in the countries’ border areas and that a similar agreement with Russia is in the pipeline. Foreign Minister Sikorski was on his first visit to Oslo last week. On Friday he presented a lecture on the topic “Euro-Atlantic Security Architecture–Poland’s contributions and expectations” at the Nobel Institute.
