Bulgarians one step closer to join US Visa Waiver program

Bulgarian officials signed a security cooperation agreement with their US counterparts in Washington on Tuesday which basically means that they are one step closer to enter the US visa waiver program, AFP informs. US State Secretary on security issues Michael Chertoff declared that Bulgarians shared with them the same liberty and security values.

In order to be officially included in the program Bulgaria needs to comply with various standards in terms of security. On the other hand, Bulgaria was not part of a group of EU member states which signed a lobby contract to support their cause in the US Congress while Romania was.

A similar document was signed by the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Lithuania. It is known that US prioritizes bilateral agreements, unlike the European Commission which wants to negotiate on behalf of all member states.