Estonia is to sign a deal with the US to allow Estonians to travel there without visas - but without undermining a common European Union policy, local media reported on Monday, according to dpa. Estonia, which joined the EU in 2004, plans to make the first step to joining the US visa waiver programme which requires a sharing of passenger data which is more intrusive than in the EU. The Baltic nation of 1.3 million is to sign a memorandum of understanding with US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff on Wednesday, the Estonian Interior Ministry said Monday. The countries will agree on details of data sharing and cooperation between law enforcement agencies in the coming months, the ministry said. Latvia, Lithuania and Hungary plan signing similar deals. The Czech Republic angered Brussels two weeks ago when it signed a separate bilateral deal with Washington under which it agreed to closer cooperation on air security in return for a visa waiver, undermining EU unity on the issue. Opponents criticised Washington for negotiating separate visa deals with EU member states, saying these would have more leverage if they negotiated together. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended Washington, saying the bilateral agreement arose from US legislation which dictates that the US can only conclude visa deals with individual countries.
