Warsaw mayor threatens to cancel US visit
The mayor of Poland’s capital, Warsaw, is protesting against the new American anti-terror measures introduced at the beginning of January.
US authorities collect "biometric identifiers," such as fingerprints, in an inkless process, along with a digital photograph of the visitor and are not making an exception for the Mayor of Warsaw.
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But as Poland is part of the coalition helping the US in Iraq, this requirement is being seen as an insult by many Polish people.
The right-wing mayor of Warsaw, Lech Kaczynski is threatening to cancel his visit, scheduled for April, to visit his counterpart in Chicago.
"I have not taken the final decision yet, it depends on the abolishment of the obligatory taking of fingerprints and photographs of Polish citizens", the mayor of Warsaw told the EUobserver.
Mr Kaczynski - whose political party, the Law and Justice party, took a strongly pro-American line during the war in Iraq - believes that the issue could be settled diplomatically.
Since 5 January 2004, the US has started to impose the new measures on travellers entering the US. The new rules apply to citizens of most of the new EU member states, except Slovenes who enjoy a non-visa regime for entering US territory.
