Russian parliament head insists on lifting of EU visas in Prague

Prague, March 18 (CTK) - The EU should lift the visa requirements for Russians and the Czech Republic should be instrumental in this, the chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko said in Prague Monday.

The visas are "an anachronism in the present-day global world," Matviyenko said after her meeting the Czech Senate chairman Milan Stech (Social Democrats, CSSD).

Stech said Czech authorities, too, were interested in lifting the visas.

Interestingly enough, politicians in every individual European country voice readiness to lift the visa requirements with Russia, "sharing the need," Matviyenko said.

"However, as soon as we sit on the negotiating table with EU representatives, various problems and hitches arise," she added.

"We hope that as an EU member, the Czech Republic will actively present its voice in the talks on the international level," Matviyenko said.

Stech said the visas posed a problem for all Czech businesspeople doing business on the Russian market.

Stech said he agreed that on the national level, the consensus on their abolition would be found very fast.

The Czech government and diplomacy should help it on the European level, too, Stech told CTK.

"I expect the new President Milos Zeman to be a certain engine and architect of the movement forward," he added.

Matviyenko is scheduled to meet Zeman on Tuesday, the final day of her official visit to the Czech Republic.