Русская версия"I believe that Slovaks will visit the United States without having to apply for visas in mid-January at the latest," Kubis told the paper.
The United States are to decide on possible visa-free relations with Slovakia by the end of October, Kubis said.
One of the conditions of the U.S.
authorities is that the number of rejected visa applications does not exceed 10 percent of all Slovak applications.
Last year, 12 percent of Slovak applications were rejected.
The latest period, according to which the U.S. authorities will make their decision, will end in September.
Both Slovak and U.S. diplomats commenting on the issue earlier this year were optimistic, saying they believed that the portion of rejected applications would not get over 10 percent.
However, Slovaks will still have to fill in Internet forms before their travel to the United States as of January 12, 2009. This system will apply to all visa-free passengers.
The United States has started the testing of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) in August.
(Ceske Noviny)
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