Eastern European bilateral agreements in visa dispute

Erkki Bahovski points out that within the EU, only Denmark and Great Britain initially granted Estonia visa-free travel, after which Finland and then other states finally followed suit. "Now, however, the EU wants Estonia and other states that are aiming for visa exemption for travel to the US to conduct the negotiations through Brussels. And this is where it begins to get somewhat paradoxical. Estonia has always been vehement in its calls for a common foreign and security policy for the EU, particularly regarding relations with Russia. Moreover, Estonia has always criticized the signing of bilateral agreements with Russia. But now we're doing exactly the same thing, only in the opposite direction: we're negotiating a bilateral deal with the US."

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