HELSINKI -- Finland's Interior Minister Kari Rajamaeki on Monday said visa-free travel to the European Union for Russians would not happen anytime soon due to considerable security concerns.

"I think that the abolition of visa requirement between the EU and Russia... is a very long-term goal," Rajamaeki told AFP.

"There are problems concerning the credibility of Russian travel documents, border control -- especially in the south -- organized crime, drugs and the number of illegally resident third country nationals in Russia," he noted.

"A hasty decision could cause serious risks to the internal security of the EU," Rajamaeki pointed out.

Earlier this month Richard Wright, the head of the EU delegation to Moscow, said the bloc was ready to start talks with Kremlin on the transition to a regime of visa-free travel between the Union and Russia.

The first technical discussions on the topic would take place prior to the next EU-Russia summit, scheduled for November, he added.

The issue of visa-free travel, on which Russia has been insisting in past months, is gaining urgency as the European Union expands next year into Eastern Europe, which was part of the Soviet bloc.

Rajamaeki stressed however that it was important to find a pragmatic but secure solution to the problem, saying more "flexible" and "client-friendly" rules should be implemented for Russian visa applicants.