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Tallinn: Estonia signed a bilateral visa and air security deal with the United States on Wednesday to pave the way to visa-free travel, ignoring protests from the European Commission.
Latvia was due on the same day to sign a similar deal, adding to a row between the European Union executive and some new EU states keen to get US visa-free travel, but impatient to wait for the Commission to do their negotiating for them.
"Our common goal is to achieve visa-free travel for all EU member states," said Estonian Interior Minister Juri Pihl.
"The realistic means for achieving this goal is bilateral negotiations which are harmonised with EU law," he told a news conference after signing the agreement. US Secretary for Homeland Security Michael Chertoff described the agreement as a "win win for everyone".
"There is nothing that is not in agreement with EU competences. Today’s agreement is a crucial first step on the way to Estonia joining the visa waiver programme," he said.
Most EU states have US visa waivers, allowing visa-free travel, but not 11 of the 12 mostly ex-communist states that joined the bloc in 2004 and 2007, or older member Greece.
The Commission, which has already tried to press the United States to grant visa-free access to all 27 EU states, wants to act as sole negotiator on securing visa-free deals.
But new member states eager for visa free travel have forged ahead with their own agreements. Before Estonia, the Czech Republic had agreed to enhanced air security cooperation, such as on passport and airport security and armed sky marshals.
Hungary is expected to do the same later this month.
Countries signing bilateral pacts do not get immediate visa-free status, but Washington will make access easier when they fulfil a number of security criteria.
After signing deals with Estonia and Latvia on Wednesday, Chertoff was to meet European Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini and other senior EU officials in Slovenia.
Frattini said on Tuesday he hoped talks with the United States could move fast enough to allow for political endorsement of a visa waiver programme for all 27 EU states at an EU-US summit in June and its implementation by the end of 2008.
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