Malta may take tit-for-tat action over US visas

Malta may soon introduce visas for US diplomats visiting the island as part of the EU's reaction to the refusal by the US to waive its visa requirements for citizens of 10 member states - nine of the new members, including this island, and Greece.

Currently, EU citizens from these states must apply for visas before travelling to the US, despite the waiver that exists on the other EU states. The US says the visas are required on security grounds.

A spokesman for the European Commission yesterday told The Times that the Commission will recommend that its member states introduce a visa obligation for US diplomats entering the EU, as a first phase of counter measures to Washington's resistance over the issue.

The spokesman called the American attitude no longer understandable or acceptable.

Last week, European Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini wrote to Michael Chertoff, the US Secretary for Homeland Security, in a bid to increase the pressure on Washington to justify its refusal to extend a visa waiver agreement to all its 25 member states.

Mr Frattini accused the US of "hiding behind the legislative criteria for refusing an extension" and said that "political considerations obviously prevail".

Mr Frattini's letter to Mr Chertoff stressed that US concerns about the safety of travellers from these 10 countries were "not supportable", given that they had all complied with the same legislation as the rest of the EU.

He also called on the US to provide a country-by-country analysis of the criteria considered to be unmet in order to resolve the issue.

The most widely used criterion by the US for refusing visa waivers is the number of refused applications, which must be less than three per cent. However, according to the Commission this is "at best questionable" since it is the US authorities that control the number of refusals.

Government sources told The Times that Malta is in full agreement with the Commission over the issue.

"We have been discussing this issue for far too long, even at the highest of levels. Bilaterally, this issue was raised by the Prime Minister when he met President George Bush a year ago. We think Malta has adhered to all the necessary requirements imposed by the US so we feel the US should now change its position," the sources said.

At present, US citizens visiting Malta do not require an entry visa but Maltese citizens going the other way have to pay about Lm35 and go through a series of bureaucratic procedures in order to obtain a visa permit to enter the US.

The US is not the only country criticised by the Commission for failing to remove visa requirements. Australia and Canada are also singled out in a report approved by the Commission on Wednesday.

The report states that Canberra recently unveiled plans for a gradual extension of visa waivers to the new member states, and a simplification of its general visa application procedures. However, Canada continues to pursue bilateral agreements with each country.

The Commission negotiates on behalf of all the member states on this issue.

The Commission also confirmed that three new waiver agreements had been reached with Uruguay, Costa Rica and Paraguay, while progress was being made with Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.