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Czech premier welcomes visa-free travel to US
Oct 17, 2008, 16:49 GMT
Prague - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek welcomed Washington's decision, announced Friday by US President George W Bush, to allow Czechs to travel to the United States without visas.
The new policy is set to go into effect within a month.
'It is virtually the largest success we could have achieved. It lifts the last relic of communism and the Cold War. I am thus very happy,' Topolanek said in a statement.
Czech officials have earlier signaled that the visas could be lifted on November 17, the 19th anniversary of a student march that led to the so-called Velvet Revolution, the peaceful fall of communism in then Czechoslovakia.
Earlier this year, the Czech Republic broke ranks with the European Union and signed a bilateral deal with the United States that enabled visa-free travel for Czech citizens to the United States.
The step angered officials in Brussels, who called for a common visa policy.
The Czechs then agreed to stricter rules for visa-free travel to the United States than those already in place for the EU's western European members.
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