Statement by Commissioner Avramopoulos following the meeting with five Member States on progress towards full visa reciprocity with the United States - Main contents

European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos i met yesterday with the Bulgarian Minister of the Interior, Plamen Uzunov, the Romanian Minister of the Interior, Carmen-Daniela Dan, the Croatian Minister of Interior, Vlaho Orepic, the Polish Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Dziedziczak and the Cypriot Deputy Permanent Representative to the European Union, Olympia Neocleous, to discuss progress towards achieving full visa reciprocity with the United States.

After the meeting, the Commissioner issued the following statement:

"I met today in Brussels Ministers and representatives from Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania, to discuss progress towards the goal of achieving full visa reciprocity with the United States. Reciprocity is a cornerstone of EU visa policy, and we are committed to continue working in a constructive and positive spirit, in close coordination between us, and the United States, to achieve this goal as soon as possible, including searching for mutually acceptable interim steps.

We discussed steps that could be taken on the EU side to fulfil the criteria of the US Visa Waiver Program. We will continue to engage closely with the United States, both at political and technical level, in view of a solution which is to the mutual benefit of European and American citizens, as well as for our close strategic relations more widely."

STATEMENT/17/769