euro|topics - Eastern European bilateral agreements in visa dispute

05/07/2009

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Main focus of Thursday, March 13, 2008

Eastern European bilateral agreements in visa dispute

Following the Czech Republic's example, Latvia and Estonia have now also signed individual agreements with the United States which exempt their citizens from visa requirements for travel to the US. The EU is trying to negotiate a common visa agreement for all member states. What repercussions will these independent initiatives have on Europe's common foreign and security policy?

Diena - Latvia

Aivars Ozolins sees the agreement as a step in the right direction: "At the summit in Brussels, Latvia's Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins and Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis will be forced to listen to accusations that they violated EU regulations. The European Commission objects to individual EU member states conducting bilateral talks with the US on the subject of visa exemption. (The Czech Republic signed a similar memorandum in February, Hungary and Slovakia will soon follow suit). Instead, the EU wants to find a solution for all 27 member states and it appears it's not our turn yet. But all the 'old members', with the exception of Greece, already enjoy this privilege, and it's morally questionable to refuse us 'new' members this privilege until Brussels has found some kind of solution." (13/03/2008)

Postimees - Estonia

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." (13/03/2008)

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

"That the Czech Republic, Estonia and Latvia are negotiating bilateral visa-waiver agreements with the US, as is currently the case, is annoying, but no major drama," Martin Winter writes. "It weakens the EU's claim to negotiate with Washington in the name of all members and therefore from a position of strength, but that wouldn't be such a problem if it was a single, isolated case. However, it's just one link in a chain of events that are feeding doubts that the Eastern European states that joined the EU in one major round of expansion four years ago really have adjusted to membership. ... The temptation to enter bilateral agreements with the Americans and the Russians may be great, but the attractions of the collective strength [of the EU] should be greater. There is not a shred of evidence to support the idea that any single European state can achieve more on its own than a united EU." (13/03/2008)

» To the complete press review of Thursday, March 13, 2008

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