Brussels, 19/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - Greece has denied any setback in the talks on the subject of its inclusion in the American visa waiver program (VWP). Bilateral discussions are underway and a US assessment team is due in Athens, for the third time, “in the next few months”, the spokesperson for the Greek Foreign Ministry, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, said on 15 May. “We are in touch with the European Union but the process goes on, on the bilateral level”, he added. Up to now, Greece has fulfilled all the conditions and all the criteria to participate in the programme, he said in an interview with AP. Earlier in the week, at a hearing in the House of Representatives, Richard Barth, US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, indicated that Greece had fallen behind other countries seeking to join the VWP. Because of the ongoing negotiations with the European Commission (which wants the inclusion of all the member states in the VWP), Greece has, he said, refused to discuss the signing of the provisional agreement proposed by the USA which has already been signed by seven other EU countries which are candidates for visa waivers (Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia, the Czech Republic). Athens is then said to have proposed its own version of the agreement to the US, which rejected it because it wants to be able to sign comparable agreements to those already concluded with the other seven countries. This line was maintained following questions from Robert Wexler, the Democrat chairman of the House's sub-committee on Europe, and Republican Gus Bilirakis. Mr Wexler said it was “unacceptable” that Greece's request had been pushed to the back of the queue, pointing out that Greece is “an important NATO ally” which meets all the requirements for participation in the VWP. 12 member states are still not part of the VWP: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. (B.C.)