TALLINN - Baltic travelers moved a step closer to obtaining visa free entry to the United States after the Senate in Washington passed a bill on March 13 to expand the visa waiver program. The bill is the first step in the political process to opening U.S. borders to Baltic passport holders. It must now be approved by Congress and signed by President George W. Bush before it comes into effect.
Hopes of a change in U.S. policy were raised when Bush visited the Baltics in November. Bush told reporters in Tallinn he would attempt to speed up the process of legislative change to support NATO allies.
In the March 13 vote, the U.S. Senate passed section four of the bill, Improving America's Security By Implementing Unfinished Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007. The bill was passed by a vote of 60 to 38.
The author of the amendments to the bill, Ohio Republican Senator George V. Voinovich, said extending the visa program was a way to reward nations who helped fight in the so-called "War on Terror."
"I strongly believe we must maintain strong relations with our friends who are helping us fight the Global War on Terror," Senator Voinovich said in a press release.
"Our current visa policy is discouraging hundreds of thousands of peaceful and well-meaning people from visiting the United States for business and pleasure. By severely limiting legitimate travel to the United States, we are dampening international good will and losing economic opportunities totaling millions of dollars."
Under the security requirements of the bill, countries must use biometric passports, tight passenger screening, reporting of lost and stolen passports, and improved airport security.
When approved, the changes will allow citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to travel to the U.S. without a visa for up to 90 days, a privilege that citizens of only 27 nations currently enjoy.
Estonia's ambassador to the U.S, Juri Luik, said that relations between the two nations would be "strengthened by facilitating the freedom of travel for our citizens."
However he warned that the political process might be slower than expected because the Senate bill, known generally as the "9/11 bill," also contained other controversial elements unrelated to visas.
"So the legislative process might get stuck at some point… There will still be a long way to go," Luik told The Baltic Times from Washington.
The same bill might become entangled in the scheduled 2008 presidential election, in which homeland security is expected to be an issue.
"Presidential elections always make the legislative process more complicated and less predictable, although the visa waiver itself is not an election issue," Luik said.
