Poland urges EU action on visas

Poland will ask the European Union this week to press Canada, Australia and New Zealand to lift travel visa obligations for citizens of new EU member states, Polish Interior Minister Ryszard Kalisz said yesterday.

Mr Kalisz said he would make the request in talks today with his counterparts from the EU's 25 countries, following pressure from Poland and other newcomers for a visa waiver from the United States.

"The EU's new member states abolished visas for countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand from May 1. But there has been no reciprocity. We will ask the EU to take a common stance on the issue," Mr Kalisz told a news briefing.

The United States and other rich non-EU countries generally do not require visas from citizens of the 15 old EU members, although Washington still has restrictions on Greece. But they have kept travel curbs on nationals of the 10 newcomers, mostly poorer east European countries. Mr Kalisz stressed Poland would not invoke the EU's solidarity clause, which would oblige other EU countries to retaliate by requiring visas for citizens of those states that restrict travel freedom for some of the bloc's members.

"We will definitely not demand from our EU partners that they impose visas for citizens of other countries," he said.

EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Antonio Vitorino has already asked Washington to include the 10 new members in a scheme which allows citizens of close allies to enter the United States without visas.