The Czech Republic signed a similar agreement last month, complaining that EU-level talks had dragged on. A European Union representative then said that the visa issue falls under the competence of the EU and that the governments of individual countries 'need to be more patient.' It is expected that soon US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff will sign similar agreements with Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia.
These agreements extend the visa waiver program, which citizens of Western European countries have long enjoyed, to citizens of new EU member states. They can enter the United States for a period not exceeding three months without the right to work and are, in fact, exempt from the need to obtain a tourist visa.
The United States insists that under its laws, visa waiver agreements must be signed with each country individually, and these countries must meet the criteria of the visa waiver program. Such criteria include the percentage of visa application rejections and non-returns of those who received tourist visas. Joining the program also requires biometric passports and measures to combat their forgery, strengthening border security, and various other measures, including armed guards on aircraft flying to or from the United States.
'If we waited until the last EU country meets these requirements, then countries like Latvia and Estonia would have to wait a very long time,' Chertoff said in Riga. Interestingly, among the EU countries that the US still denies visa-waiver exchange is Poland, despite its close relationship with the United States.
Latvian Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins said that Riga had been given the opportunity to get what it had long sought. 'Why should our citizens wait for some single agreement involving all EU member states? Freedom of movement is one of our country's interests,' Riekstins said.