|  The second and final Hungarian-U.S. agreement on the exchange of criminal data necessary to Hungarian entry to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program was signed by Justice and Law Enforcement Minister Tibor Draskovics and U.S. Ambassador to Hungary April H. Foley in the Foreign Ministry. The two governments have agreed to exchange data held in criminal files as well as intensifying co-operation on crime prevention. Among tools used will be the online exchange of finger prints and DNA data. Only data which cannot directly identify individuals (i.e. reference data) is covered by the agreement. The implementation of the agreement covers the prevention and combat of all crimes which are subject to prison sentences of 12 months or more; but at the same time it does not contain any portion which pertains to an exchange of sensitive data such as sexual orientation, membership of a union, political, religious conviction, ethnic group, or state of health. At a press conference after the signing, Ambassador Foley said that the agreement was appropriate in terms of Hungary’s strict legal provisions for the protection of personal data. As regards the visa-free inbound travel of Hungarian tourists, a further condition must be met; namely that the yearly number of rejected visa applications should not be above ten percent; though current information indicates that Washington’s demand will be met. Another condition is that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Electronic system of Travel Authorization (ESTA) should be in operation. Ambassador Foley said that testing carried out since early August has proven successful. Therefore there is a considerable chance that Hungary will be able to join the Visa Waiver Program before the Bush administration leaves office on January 20, 2009.  The other signatory, Minister Draskovics emphasised that the exchange of criminal data held in files would create greater security for the two countries’ citizens. With visa-free travel, Hungarian tourists will enjoy the same favourable treatment in terms of entering the United States as the old member states of the European Union.
The government, said Mr Draskovics, will put forward the document to members of parliament within the next few days; given the five-party consensus on the issue, it is expected to have swift passage. The other necessary agreement for visa-free travel is on the exchange of data for filtering known or suspected terrorists – this was passed by Hungary’s parliament on June 2, 2008. (October 1, 2008) |