Brussels, 10/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The proposal that Mr Frattini made on International Women's Day to establish special short-term visas for women from certain countries was deeply shocking, several PES MEPs write in a letter addressed to Commissioner Franco Frattini on 9 March. Their reaction came after the Commissioner's proposal to restore the visa obligation for certain countries during the World Cup football tournament in June this year in order to combat the risk of forced prostitution in Germany (EUROPE 9148). Socialist MEPs Martine Roure (French), Lissy Gröner (Germany), Christa Prets (Austrian), Pasqualina Napoletano (Italian) and Véronique De Keyser (Belgian) consider that one cannot effectively combat people trafficking by institutionalising discrimination against women by imposing a visa obligation upon them. They go on to add that this initiative would endanger women already in situations of insufferable insecurity and would in no way prevent this traffic from being organised. The MEPs therefore call on Mr Frattini not to follow this initiative through and on the Commission to continue its commitment in favour of combating human trafficking.