The ambassadors of Hungary and Lithuania signed similar documents, too. Chertoff said after the signing that he did not considered the share of rejected Slovak applications for U.S visas a problem. The share was above 12 percent last year. Chertoff said he believed the share would drop below the necessary 10 percent and first Slovaks would travel to the United States by the end of the year. Kalinak said that both countries pledged to respect national law and international treaties, including Slovakia's commitments to the European Union. Slovakia is prepared to meet all security criteria so that there is really nothing that could prevent the U.S.
partners from lifting the visas for Slovaks, he said. The Czech Republic was the first to sign Czechs view themselves victorious over EC in U.S. visa issues ...
Czech-U.S. memorandum complicates EU position - Slovenian IntMin ...
Talks with USA on radar on Czech soil will close this week - PM ...
One Last Gasp of Freedom for Smokers at Cologne Carnival ...
Map: Key primary states ... a respective memorandum of understanding that will enable the Czechs to join the U.S. visa waiver programme probably this autumn. The Czech step was first criticised by Brussels, arguing that the United States in exchange for visa abolition demand security guarantees that go beyond the framework of the agreement between the EU and the United States. Estonia and Latvia signed a bilateral memorandum with the United States, too. The new EU member countries said they decided to take the step after Brussels did not help them sufficiently. The old EU members did all but nothing for Slovakia over the past four years, which has made from Slovakia a second-class nation, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said at the EU summit last week. The United States has visa-free relations with all old EU members except for Greece, as well as Slovenia among the EU newcomers. Citizens of other new EU countries need visas for travelling to the USA. U.S. citizens can travel to the whole of the EU without visas.
(Ceske Noviny)
more info >>
<< Back