Lisbon ratification soon - Ilves

STRASBOURG - The Estonian parliament should ratify theLisbon Treaty this spring, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves told the head of theEuropean Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, Mar. 12.

Ilves, who was attending a plenary session of the European Parliament inStrasbourg, and Poettering spoke about the future of the European Union,focusing on the reform treaty.

"It is in the interest of all of us for the ratification process to gosmoothly," Ilves said. "The Estonian parliament should ratifythe Lisbon Treaty this spring."

Ilves and Poettering discussed developments in Russia. Both mentioned thenecessity of maintaining a mutually respectful dialogue on equal terms betweenRussia and the EU as well as Russia and individual EU states.

The two also spoke about the enlargement of the bloc's borderless Schengenzone and the wider opportunities for crossborder ties it opened to citizens ofthe countries that joined it in December.