Poland to Stick with EU on US Visa Negotiations
As he prepares for his trip to the United States on Sunday, Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has indicated his willingness to work through the EU on all future discussion with the United States over visa negotiations.
Poland has long pushed for a special visa waiver that is currently enjoyed by some West European countries. Currently, Poles seeking entry into the United States are required to first get a visa. While Tusk seems confident that progress on the will be made on the visa waiver issue in the near future, he has indicated it will not be on his agenda when he meets with the White House on Monday.
At a press conference three days before his visit to the United States, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said: “The United States are making a mistake in keeping up the [visa requirement] for Poles”.
However, PM Tusk said that he would not be making a special appeal to President W. Bush in Washington next week.
“It is in our interest that the United States conduct their visa policy towards the whole European Union. It is not the duty of the head of the Polish government to ask for doing away with visas,” added Tusk. Read more…
Poland’s previous governments had chosen to work directly with the United States on issues like visa waiver. It is currently muddling through negotiations with Washington on the prospect of Poland hosting U.S. missile defense bases.
This shift towards the EU on visa waiver could work out in Poland’s favor should its other regional neighbors follow along. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary are just among the several new EU members searching for movement on their own individual visa waiver status.
Meanwhile, Tusk discusses NATO bids for Georgia and Ukraine
Also today, Donald Tusk put the weight of the Poland’s government behind the NATO membership bids of Ukraine and Georgia. In his comments, the Prime Minister predicted an easier path for Ukraine.
Tusk admitted that NATO was divided on the accession of Ukraine and Georgia to the EU. He added that there seemed to be more reluctance against Georgia than Ukraine.
Tusk also reminded that decisions on the matter could fall at the April NATO summit in Bucharest and assured that the matter would be discussed in this month’s EU summit in Brussels.
“If I were in Ukraine’s and Georgia’s place — especially Ukraine’s — I’d be counting on a positive outcome in Bucharest,” the Polish prime minister said.
Tags: EU, europhiles, Euroskeptic, Poland, Tusk
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