New passports to save Greeks hassle in US
Greece has no plans to subject American visitors to being photographed and fingerprinted upon entering the country, reciprocating a US counterterrorism measure which includes Greeks in its scope, Deputy Foreign Minister Andreas Loverdos told Parliament yesterday. However, he added, the government does intend to issue a new form of passport containing, in digital form, all the information requested by US authorities, so as to obviate the need for Greeks to be scrutinized once they reach America. Loverdos expressed hopes that Greece will be removed from the visa program – Greeks are the only EU citizens who need a visa to visit the US – once the new passports are out. He did not say when that would happen. He was responding to a question by Synaspismos Left Coalition MP Fotis Kouvelis, who had inquired whether Greece would engage in tit-for-tat checks on US visitors.
