2008 Woodie Awards
Russian visa red-tape highlights hiccups in relations
Jonathan Gair
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: OpEd Page
As someone who just so happened to fill out a Russian entry visa, a recent development hit a particular chord: The Financial Times has just reported that the European Union has strongly urged Russia to reduce the difficulty of the "onerous red tape" that complements a trip into the Russian Federation. Stemming mainly from problems of coordination in the energy sector-namely, the plight of 148 European workers who were unable to enter Russia due to visa and permit difficulties in order to work on a joint Anglo-Russia oil extraction project-the problem applies to all individuals across any business that is required or needs to travel into Russia.
Having briefly mentioned the pact in my column for Tuesday's issue of The Miami Student, economic cooperation between the EU and Russia had once looked extremely bright, but now is apparently stagnant. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and subsequent agreements between the two powers had, in 2001 and 2003 (legally codified in 2005), laid the foundation for frameworks of cooperation on the areas of investment-related issues, overall trade, mutual legal assistance, and-surprise, surprise-visa-facilitation. While Russia had, until last year, held provisions for a one-year multiple re-entry visas, business visas now allow only offer a fraction of that length of stay.
If anything, these visa problems are only a representation of the larger problems that face a Russian economy that wants to continue sustainable growth but still faces large structural problems within the international community. This is not only emblematic of the Russian state, but also is a type of problem that we in some ways must guard ourselves against. The United States is, after all, being recognized as a country that is becoming more and more networked and interconnected with the world economy, but is held back by "a problematic regulatory environment and high business taxes," or so says the World Economic Forum in its recent report on global information technology.
Having briefly mentioned the pact in my column for Tuesday's issue of The Miami Student, economic cooperation between the EU and Russia had once looked extremely bright, but now is apparently stagnant. The Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) and subsequent agreements between the two powers had, in 2001 and 2003 (legally codified in 2005), laid the foundation for frameworks of cooperation on the areas of investment-related issues, overall trade, mutual legal assistance, and-surprise, surprise-visa-facilitation. While Russia had, until last year, held provisions for a one-year multiple re-entry visas, business visas now allow only offer a fraction of that length of stay.
If anything, these visa problems are only a representation of the larger problems that face a Russian economy that wants to continue sustainable growth but still faces large structural problems within the international community. This is not only emblematic of the Russian state, but also is a type of problem that we in some ways must guard ourselves against. The United States is, after all, being recognized as a country that is becoming more and more networked and interconnected with the world economy, but is held back by "a problematic regulatory environment and high business taxes," or so says the World Economic Forum in its recent report on global information technology.
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