Make it simple...no visas for Muslims, period. -Bruce http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13231634/ EU sanctions threat to Canada over visas By Edward Alden in Washington and Sarah Laitner in Amsterdam, Financial Times, 10 June 2006
Europe is considering sanctions against Canada over its refusal to allow visa-free travel by citizens from all 25 members of the European Union, a shot across the bows of the US, which maintains similar restrictions on visitors from almost all of the new EU member states. Brussels will unveil a report on possible action against Canada by early next month that could initially require Canadian diplomats to obtain visas before travelling to Europe, ending the long practice of visa-free entry. While the US is not expected to be targeted immediately, European officials are planning to press the issue at the summit between EU and US leaders in Vienna this month, seeking a commitment by President George W. Bush to move towards granting visa-waiver status to all EU members. The entry restrictions mostly affect citizens from the ex-Communist countries that joined the EU in 2004. John Bruton, the EU ambassador to Washington, said: "If the US is serious about respecting the EU as a union, it's got to respect it as a union for visa purposes." He stressed that Brussels did not want to impose retaliatory sanctions but was hoping for "a solution that doesn't create any new divisions in Europe". "My sense is if the Americans were to offer something a little stronger than a road map, that recognised the goal of reciprocity, we would be heading in the right direction," he said. The US requires visas from 10 European member states, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, while Canada requires them from seven. Mr Bruton said the requirement "is very damaging to the perception of the US in that part of Europe that has been the most pro-US in recent times". The Czech Republic has warned that it might impose visas on Canadian travellers unless Canada lifts its visa requirements on Czech travellers. EU officials want the issue to be handled by Brussels rather than the national capitals. The Commission has yet to decide exactly what action to propose. Even if it recommends sanctions, the move would be far from a fait accompli because the European parliament and EU member states would have to back the plan. The threat of action could put enough pressure on Washington and Ottawa to review their policies. Both US and Canadian officials said their policies were not based on reciprocity with the EU but on working with the new member states on a country-by-country basis. The US has offered a general "road map" to guide the new member states on how to be accepted into the US visa-waiver programme, which allows for visa-free travel to the US. Among the most contentious requirements is that the new countries must meet a threshold of having less than 3 per cent of their visa applicants rejected by US immigration authorities, a benchmark established by Congress. But the EU has made progress on another benchmark involving secure passports. All 25 states will begin issuing secure biometric passports by the end of August. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Home is just a click away. Make Yahoo! your home page now. http://us.click.yahoo.com/DHchtC/3FxNAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
