Miller, Cimoszewicz reject Kaliningrad corridor

Prime Minister Leszek Miller and Foreign Affairs Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz strongly rejected a Russian proposal, reported in German daily Der Spiegel, under which an extraterritorial corridor would be created joining the Kaliningrad district with the rest of Russia via Poland and Belarus. "I'm extremely surprised that, after several years and a few incidents in which we explained to our Russian partners that any extraterritorial solutions cannot be considered, such an idea is still being discussed," said Cimoszewicz on Polish radio. Poland's position is strongly supported by the European Union, which fears that such a corridor would make it easier for illegal immigrants to flow through the common EU border. Cimoszewicz assured Russia that inhabitants of Kaliningrad will not have difficulties in attaining Polish visas. (Zycie, pp. 1, 4) M.K