Talking to the press after the signing of the agreement on travel facilitation in the Norwegian-Russian borderlands today, Støre said that “he will not rest” before also the Varanger Peninsula is included in the agreement.
According to the agreement, only the areas within a 30-km reach from the land border will be given the exclusive travel rights. The Varanger Peninsula with the towns of Vadsø and Vardø are located more than 30 km from the land border, but are less than 30 km from the sea border between the countries.
That should make the two towns entitled to get the special rights, Støre argues.
Read also: First opening in the Schengen-regime with Russia
The special visa-free zone is established within the frames of the Schengen Agreement. Similar zones are located several places along the EU’s external border, among them on the Ukrainian-Slovak and Ukrainian-Hungarian border.
Meanwhile, also Russia works hard for the adjustment of the Schengen regulations. Lavrov at the press conference stressed that Russia wants all of the Kaliningrad Oblast to be included in a similar visa-free zone.
