TALLINN 's U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told her Estonian counterpart on Thursday that she supported the Baltic country's drive to have mandatory visas for travel to the United States cancelled.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet was quoted by his press department as saying that Estonia meets nearly all the criteria in order to qualify for the U.S. visa-waiver program. However, it must significantly lower the percentage of refusals for nonimmigrant visas to lower than 3 percent.
Paet also said that he and Rice, meeting in Washington, spoke about Iraq and the need for the coalition for the willing to remain engaged until the situation is stable.
"Estonia will stay on as part of the multinational forces, and if possible it will take part also in other projects aimed at Iraq's reconstruction," Paet was quoted as saying.
