The migratin privilege came as a gift from Russian authorities to Kremlin-backed Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in his 2004 election campaign.
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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Russia Revokes Migration Rules for Ukrainians
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry asked its Russian counterparts Tuesday to explain a decision to strip Ukrainians of a right to stay in Russia for up 90 days without registration. Russian Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin has requested the prime minister to keep the privilege for Ukrainians to maintain friendly relations with the neighbors.
Ukraine is concerned about Russia’s new migration rules which came into effect on January 15, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Deshchitsa said Tuesday. The new rules strip Ukrainians of a right to stay in Russia for 90 days without migration registration. The rule came as a kind of gift from Russian authorities to Kremlin-backed Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich in this election campaign. The promise was formalized in an intergovernmental agreement in October 2004.
Russian migration authorities say they are scrapping the privilege in an effort to set “civilized regulation of migration flows”. Federation Migration Service Head Konstantin Romodanovsky believes that the new procedure of obtaining the registration has become so easy that Ukrainians do not need any privilege. From 2006 on, all foreigners can obtain their migration registration at any post office, sending an application to the Federal Migration Service.
Some Russian officials, however, are worried about the decision. Duma deputy Konstantin Zatulin told Kommersant he had sent a request to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov to consider legal grounds for the move. “There is priority of international agreements over local laws,” Mr. Zatulin underscored. “What is more, this will be a politically wrong decision which will harm Russian-Ukrainian relations.” The deputy reminded of recent political changes in Ukraine and said that the new Russia-friendly regime should get some kind of reward.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 24, 2007
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