Medvedev falls short of his goals at EU-Russia summit

The hopes of Kremlin boss Dmitry Medvedev that he would secure visa exemption for his country at the EU-Russia summit in Rostov-on-Don have been dashed. Brussels is primarily interested in improving economic ties with Moscow, the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore concludes: "The Kremlin's goal of modernisation and the scrapping of visa requirements were too ambitious for the summit. Economic ties between Russia and the EU were revived thanks to a partnership for modernisation agreement signed in Rostov. But Moscow is in a hurry to secure visa-free travel for Russians. The Europeans, on the other hand, are afraid of this. They want to tighten controls on the borders of the former Soviet republics, introduce biometric passports and only ease the obligation to register with the authorities for Europeans living and working in Russia for the time being. But modernisation is also achieved through visa-free travel and Medvedev hopes to give the initiative fresh impetus with a proposal he put to the partners: the scrapping of visas for short visits, as was done in 2008 for the football Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea in Moscow."

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