Rice: USA entitled to sign visa agreements

08.03.2008

BRUSSELS, Mar 08, BNS - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the right of the United States to sign bilateral visa waiver agreements with member countries of the European Union.

A diplomat who preferred to remain anonymous told Reuters that late on Thursday Rice defended the US position at meetings with senior EU officials.

"She explained that US law only permits bilateral agreements in that issue," the diplomat said.

The source added that it was only an exchange of ideas and the discussion would continue during a meeting of EU officials with Michael Chertoff, head of the US Department of Homeland Security.

The debate was spurred by an agreement the Czech Republic signed with the United States last week.

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said on Friday that his country, too, would next Wednesday sign a memorandum of mutual understanding on visa waiver with the United States.

The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that the memorandum covered cooperation between legal and law enforcment bodies and more effective security measures.

She added that all this was a precondition to Estonia's accession to the US visa waiver program.

Reuters said that also Lithuania and Hungary should sign similar agreememts soon.

After meeting with Latvian Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis on Friday Ansip said that also Latvia found bilateral visa waiver talks with the United States would have to be continued.

But according to Reuters the European Commission and several member countries that already have visa waiver status with the find US that such agreements do not agree with the common visa and border policy of the community.

Twelve member countries of the European Union, including Greece and all the countries that acceded to the EU after 2004, except Slovenia, have no visa waiver status with the United States.

Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8861, sise@bns.ee