Brussels, 31/07/2007 (Agence Europe) - Poland has expressed its deep disappointment following the adoption by the US Congress of a package of security measures proposed by the 9/11 commission (named after the 2001 terrorist attacks), among which was the latest version of the visa waiver programme (VWP), which exempts the nationals of certain countries from having to have a visa to enter the US. Currently 12 EU countries are part of this programme (see EUROPE 9478). “We are really very disappointed,” said the spokesman for Polish Foreign Minister Robert Szaniawski the day after the vote in the House of Representatives. “The situation is worrying, but nothing is decided yet,” he added, however. US President George W. Bush still has to sign the Bill before it becomes law. If it becomes law, any country which has less than 10% of its visa applications turned down by the US (previously the figure was 3%) could be allowed to join the VWP. Poland, however, has around 26% of its visa applications rejected. If this condition is not met, other criteria come into play in deciding whether or not a country qualifies. “We are not yet at the end of the legislative process and we hope that the Bill will not become law,” the Polish spokesman said, adding that no one expected Poland to be excluded from the programme. The Slovakian foreign minister also regretted that the criterion of the number of visa applications turned down was to be retained. He said that there were more objective measures for determining immigration-related risks. The spokesman for Slovakian Minister Jan Skoda said that his country, 16% of whose visa applications are currently refused, would do its best to comply with the new criterion as quickly as possible. He also hoped that the legislation was not a final option. (bc)