U.S., EU at odds over visa-free travel
U.S. security officials are at odds with some of their European counterparts over a disputed U.S. visa-waiver program that would allow Washington to negotiate with individual countries on some matters while dealing with the 27-nation bloc as a whole on others. According to Associated Press, the U.S. wants air marshals on flights and electronic travel authorization as part of a new visa waiver law that could also require EU nations to provide more data on passengers on trans-Atlantic flights. Such demands have irked EU officials, however, the disagreements are not expected to derail the process. The common goal of EU and US representatives “is to achieve visa-free travel, in full compliance with applicable laws, between the member states of the EU and the U.S.A. as soon as possible,” a joint statement said. On Wednesday, the U.S. signed bilateral agreements with Latvia and Estonia. Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia could be next. “I believe that we will begin to see new visa waiver travelers perhaps as early as the end of this year from one or two countries. I think that’s very good news,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.
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