Visa-free travel to Brazil soon

Maltese citizens will soon be able to visit Brazil without the need to apply and pay for a visa after an agreement was signed with the EU in Stockholm.

The European Commission, which negotiates on behalf of member states on visa issues, initiated an exemption agreement for short-stay visas with Brazil during the third EU-Brazil summit held last Wednesday.

Nationals from the four new EU member states - Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia and Malta - were still subject to visa obligations when travelling to Brazil, however they will not need one once the agreement is concluded.

Last month, during internal preparations for this summit, Malta officially asked the EU to put pressure on Brazil to settle the issue that had been ongoing since 2004.

Although on EU accession Malta removed the need for Brazilian citizens to have a visa when entering Malta, Brazil did not reciprocate, citing "legal technicalities" for not getting in line with an agreement it already had with the EU.

According to this agreement, EU citizens do not require a visa to visit Brazil. This was not being implemented in Malta's case.

According to the Brazilian government, this was only a technical legal hitch that needed to be settled through new legislation passed through the Brazilian Parliament.

However, Malta insisted with the EU that since more than five years had passed from accession to the EU, Brazil should conclude the agreement or face EU retaliatory measures.

Following talks during the summit meeting, Brazil agreed to initial the agreement in order to bring the issue to a close.