Hungary hails the new U.S. law, including the option of extending the Visa Waiver Programme to Hungarians, as a major step forward, Hungarian Foreign Affairs Spokesman Gyorgy Odze told MTI. Odze commented the bill U.S. President George W Bush signed into law, which, according to the White House release, allows greater flexibility to bring some of the U.S.'s closest allies into the programme.
Hungarian diplomacy has been lobbying the U.S. administration and legislation consistently and for long to promote lifting the visa requirement to bring Hungary to equal platform with other close allies of the United States in combating terrorism, the spokesman said. Regarding a timeline the spokesman said it was yet hard to say exactly how soon would Hungarians be able to travel without a visa to the United States but expressed hope for the legislation procedures to be completed within one-and-a-half or two years.
Source: budapest.cafebabel.com
Even with the change, Hungary, Poland and Romania have been left out in the cold. All three are EU states, NATO members and strong backers of U.S. anti-terrorism efforts. All three have sent troops to Afghanistan or been part of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq."For us as a country, it is difficult because we are among the closest (U.S.) allies," says Wojciech Pisarski, press officer at Poland's Embassy in London. "We, as a new EU member, should have equal rights."
U.S. consulate officers are trained to look out for foreign visitors who might overstay their 90-day visas and live illegally in the USA.
Source: usatoday.com
Hungary may be the first country to be added to the visa exemption program, but Hungarian citizens are unlikely to be allowed to enter the US without visas by the beginning of 2008. Tamás Magyarics, analyst with the Hungarian Foreign Institute, has announced that no breakthrough in the case of visa exemption is expected in the next eighteen months due to congressional and presidential elections.
Source: caboodle.hu
Tags: affairs | Diplomacy | extending | flexibility | George Bush | Gyorgy Odze | HUNGARIAN | hungary | including | legislation | option | spokesman | United States | Visa | WAIVER
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