Free Republic

Turkey says future visa-free travel will work out well because Turks no longer want to live in the EU. (Turkey's) European affairs minister Egemen Bağış told EUobserver on Friday (22 June) that Turks these days travel to EU capitals "to spend [money]" in shops and hotels. "In the past, when Turks were asked do you want to live in Europe, 80 percent would say Yes. Now, 85 percent say No. Turkish citizens feel there is more hope in Turkey; better job opportunities," he said. He noted that in 2010, 27,000 Turks went to live in Germany, but 35,000 German citizens...

Prague (dpa) - Daniel Novy, a spokesman for the Czech embassy in Washington, did not celebrate when US President George W Bush signed into law a bill that introduces new rules for visa-free travel to the United States. "It is the way it is," Novy tells Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa matter-of-factly. "It is neither a complete victory nor a complete defeat." That is the gist of what the Czech Republic and five other former communist nations - Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia - said in a recent statement. They billed the new US visa rules a step in the right...

The Lehrman Auditorium at the Heritage Foundation was packed on July 24th. They were gathered to hear a panel discuss the issue of the Visa Waiver Policy. The panel consisted of Stewart Baker who serves as the Assistant Secretary of Policy at the Department of Homeland Security, Dan Griswold of the Cato Institute and Michael McCarry, Executive Director of Alliance for International Educational and Cultural Exchange. James Jay Carafano of the Heritage Foundation moderated the discussion. “Visa policy is essential for our government to look at,” Dr. Carafano stated at the start of the discussion. Assistant Secretary Baker explained the...