Malta urges EU to speed up talks over Russian visas

Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Frendo yesterday encouraged the European Commission to step up its efforts to conclude discussions with Russia over a new visa arrangement with EU member states.

Speaking during a meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Brussels, Minister Frendo said that Malta needed to have a visa-free arrangement with Russia as soon as possible.

Speaking to The Times following the meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council, Minister Frendo explained that up to now, only three EU countries had this "special kind" of visa agreement with Russia. He said that this facilitated travel arrangements between the two countries. Malta already had this kind of arrangement with Libya and wanted to have a similar one with Russia.

Minister Frendo said the Commission was discussing the issue on behalf of all member states and Malta wanted to make sure that the matter was wrapped up in the shortest time possible.

During the meeting Dr Frendo also spoke also on the Middle East peace process and said that the time had come for the European Union to take a solid initiative. "Now is the time to set a final agreement about the whole issue."

Meanwhile, it appears that the issue on the way discussions are to proceed on the proposed framework decision regarding ship- source pollution has been partially settled. Sources close to the EU Council told The Times yesterday that the issue will not be raised during this week's meeting of Heads of State but will be discussed during the next meeting of the Justice and Home Affairs Council scheduled for mid-November.

Last week, Malta, Greece and Cyprus blocked a European Union proposal to set minimum punishments for ship captains and shipping companies responsible for oil slicks. Following last week's vote, some EU Member States said they wanted the issue to be raised during the summit. However, it appears that now this will not be the case.

Malta, Greece and Cyprus had written formally to the Dutch Presidency asking for another discussion on the framework decision to take place during the next Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting.

Asked about the EU's response to the request, the Council sources told The Times that "the fact that it is not going to be discussed at the summit means that the EU has accepted it".