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US Citizens To Need EU Visas From 2021 – It’s America’s Fault, Sadly

Currently United States citizens visiting the European Union for under 90 days do not need a visa – this will change from 2021, all will need to gain a new type of visa. We could say this is all the Europeans being mean to Yanks but it’s not actually that at all. It’s that Uncle Sam has been mean to some Europeans and as a result Europe is to place these restrictions upon all Americans.

The point being that visa requirements are always reciprocal. Governments might do – often do – stupid things but that doesn’t mean that the entire system is stupid. So, the general rule is, if you do this to our people then we’ll do this same thing to your people. This works with trade tariffs, roughly enough. If you don’t charge a tariff on our exports then we’ll not charge one on what we import from you. At a rather larger scale countries tend not to declare war on each other and that all changes rapidly if one declares war on the other – they’ll reciprocate.

The same is true of visa requirements and even the cost of them. You do this to ours then we’ll do that to your.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] US citizens travelling to Europe will need to obtain a visa from 2021, the European Union (EU) has said. The new European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) visa will be required for all US citizens who want to enter any of the 26 Schengen-zone countries. [/perfectpullquote]

This is not just an outbreak of Orange Man Bad and thus all Americans must be punished.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The United States has been in a dispute with the EU’s European Parliament and European Commission over visas for Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Cyprus. Travelers in those five countries are the only EU nations that the US requires to apply for a visa.
In 2016, the European Commission first released a report calling for the U.S. to grant the same visa-free status to those five countries as the other 23 EU nations in exchange for U.S. citizens maintaining the same visa-free status in the Schengen Area. EU rules require equal treatment for all member states.[/perfectpullquote]

That’s what it is about. The US distinguishes between some EU countries and others. And by requiring visitors from some to gain visas therefore the EU is demanding that all Americans do. The details:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]US citizens traveling to Europe will shortly need to apply for an ETIAS (European Travel Information and Authorization System) visa which is the new travel visa to visit Europe that will come into effect from 2021. Similar to other countries and regions in the world Europe has recently decided to improve their security level to avoid any further problems with illegal migration and terrorism. This means that from 2021, all Americans traveling to a European Schengen-zone country will be in need of an ETIAS.[/perfectpullquote]

As to the why, clearly explained here:

[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The US requires visas for some EU citizens, so now all US citizens visiting the EU will need visas, too[/perfectpullquote]

If the US decided to allow EU citizens from those five countries to visit the US without a visa then US citizens wouldn’t need a visa to visit Europe. It’s all, always, reciprocal, d’ye see?

Factchecking Pollyanna: An Investigation into the Accuracy of Polly Toynbee’s Journalism

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Leo Savantt
Leo Savantt
5 years ago

The issue isn’t that the European Commission care particularly for say the citizens of Poland, but rather that it is demanding that the USA recognises the EU de facto as a unitary state. The Obama administration granted the EU nation state ambassadorial status in the USA in 2016, in January of this year the Trump administration reversed that decision. Technically the EU is not a nation state and does not have ambassadors, but rather representatives, never-the-less the downgrading of status caused no little consternation in Brussels. Citizens of the 23 EU member states do need what is effectively a visa,… Read more »

TD
TD
5 years ago

I need a visa to visit Australia, and it’s really not that much of a burden. I suppose the downside risk is really on the European’s side if it means fewer American tourists (though I suspect some will be pleased). Is there any way of knowing, however, if this is something all of the countries want or is it sort of like Brussels imposing banana bend regulations?

Quentin Vole
Quentin Vole
5 years ago

Wouldn’t true reciprocality be the EU demanding visas only from inghabitants of certain US states? I can think of a few candidates …

Mohave Greenie
Mohave Greenie
5 years ago

So where is this EU embassy where I apply for this visa? /s

CJ Nerd
CJ Nerd
5 years ago

The EU web page says: “Similar to other countries and regions in the world Europe has recently
decided to improve their security level to avoid any further problems with illegal migration and terrorism.”

And the next sentence:

“This means that from 2021, all Americans traveling to a European Schengen-zone country will be in need of an ETIAS.”

Is there a non sequitur there? How much of a problem does the EU have with “illegal migration and terrorism” from the USA?

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