In response to requiring an American Visa for EU travelers to enter the United States, EU Parliament's lawmakers are pushing for Americans to apply for EU visas when they travel into the continent as part of the ongoing "mini war" involving Visas and tighter immigration rules.
According to Reuters, the European Commission is "pursuing a diplomatic resolution" to the refusal of the US to grant visa-free access to some east European countries formerly involved with Communism including Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania. Cyprus in the Mediterranean is also included in the list. The five countries are pushing the EU Parliament to end US discrimination against them.
According to a US State Department Official, the five countries do not meet the requirements of America's Visa Waiver Program. According to the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, the five countries mentioned earlier do not meet the "security requirements" for the VWP.
By May, the EU Parliament would need to introduce improvements and adjustments to its visas. In two months, it may also reintroduce EU visas for American travelers. According to The Telegraph UK, America had missed a deadline to accept "visa reciprocity" in the last year, allowing the EU to suspend its "Visa Waiver Program."
A letter from ETC Executive Director Eduardo Santander and Network For The European Private Sector in Tourism Secretariat Michael de Blust said the ongoing "visa war" between America and Europe could prove damaging to the tourism industry of both. The letter said the two are "very concerned" about the "economic and political impact brought on by a visa waiver for US nationals."
The letter continued: "The European travel and tourism sector would be deprived of essential value." Both letter authors said the war would "put thousands of European jobs at stake." Along with the US -- the only one to fail to meet the deadline, Japan, Australia, Brunei and Canada have all lifted their Visa requirements for American travelers.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
