A delegation of diplomats with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated on Tuesday in Brussels in a new tripartite meeting between the European Commission, the USA, and EU Member States that are not yet part of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (Romania, Bulgaria, Cyprus).
This meeting is part of the series of biannual tripartite meetings with regard to the issue of visa reciprocity with the U.S, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release sent to AGERPRES on Friday.
The meeting was aimed at the evaluation of the state of fulfillment of the security criteria for inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program and the visa refusal rates (as recently published for fiscal year 2024). In the case of Romania, the visa refusal rate has fallen below the legally binding threshold of 3%, to 2.61%, shows the cited source, Agerpres informs.
Discussions focused on the progress made by Romania in meeting the security requirements, which also constituted the subject of an evaluation made by the US authorities during a technical visit conducted in Bucharest in November 2024.
“The sustained commitment and permanent dialogue create favorable conditions for achieving the objective of Romania’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program and for further strengthening cooperation between Romania and the United States for the common benefit of the two countries,” further reads the MAE press release.