Spanish Lawmaker Urges EU to Restore 'Strategic Relationship' With Russia

The EU should resume a normal dialogue with Russia and its first step in this direction should be to discuss making it easier for Russian citizens to obtain visas, according to Spanish MP Maria Valentina Martinez Ferro.

Spanish MP Maria Valentina Martinez Ferro has urged the EU to resume a normal dialogue with Russia by notably reviving talks on easing visa requirements for Russian citizens, RIA Novosti reported. Ferro is also a candidate from Spain's People's Party in the country's general elections, which are scheduled for December 20.

She recalled that Spain has always maintained "excellent diplomatic relations" with Russia, which she said remain "an important neighbor of the EU and a key player in the international arena."

Ferro said that Russia's stance should be relied on when dealing with numerous problems faced by the international community.

"Therefore, we deem it necessary for the EU to build bridges and restore strategic relationship. It is important that the EU should return to a dialogue with Russia," she pointed out.

According to her, high on the agenda of the talks should be bolstering Russian-EU trade ties as well as strengthening contacts between citizens and civil society.

"In this sense, it would be a positive step to resume talks on the easing and subsequent abolition of the visa regime for [Russian] citizens," Martinez said.

Earlier, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo also called for the restoration of the strategic partnership between Russia and the EU in the face of strained relations between Moscow and EU member states over the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The top Spanish diplomat was echoed by Spanish Ambassador to Russia Jose Ignacio Carbajal Garate, who said in September that Madrid has repeatedly advocated dialogue with Moscow, opposing the policy of Western sanctions against Russia.