US, Canada may end visa requirement for Hungarians

The United States may end visa requirements for Hungarians before the end of this year, said Ibolya Dávid, leader of opposition party MDF, after her ten-day visit to the US on Sunday.

After her return, Dávid told the press that US President George Bush had earlier expressed support of eliminating visas for Hungarians, but cautioned that doing so may take time.

Before relevant changes can be made, a conference committee has to be formed from members of the Congress and the Senate. This body is currently being formed. "If things are going well, then the visa requirement will end before the end of this year, or possible the beginning of next year," Dávid said. "We have mentioned the importance and necessity of this at all of our negotiations."

In related news, Canada may also end visa requirements for Hungarians. However, officials there say they want to be sure that a relaxation will not result in a wave of immigrants, Canadian Ambassador to Hungary Robert Hage said.

"We are examining the visa requirement for seven other new European Union member states as well. Most recently, we ended the visa requirement for Estonia," said Hage, in a briefing before State President László Sólyom's visit to Canada this week.

Hungarians did not require a visa to travel to Canada for seven years, until the number of people applying for refugee status suddenly jumped.

"That year, most such requests were submitted by Hungarians, so Canada had no other choice but to introduce the visa requirement. Since then, there have been virtually no Hungarians asking for refugee status. We have to be sure that another wave of immigrants won't arrive," Hage said, mentioning the case involving a large number of Hungarian Roma (Gypsies) who traveled to Sweden in the fall of 2006 seeking asylum. "After those people were sent home, Roma leaders said that they were waiting for Canada to eliminate the visa requirement," he added.

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