(Dieser Artikel ist auch in deutscher Sprache verfügbar)
On 20 October 2008, Hungarian President László Sólyom sent back to the Parliament for reconsideration the adopted law on sharing criminal data that was to be the final agreement between the United States and Hungary on the US visa-waiver program.
Concerned with data protection issues, the President argued that the agreement which authorizes the introduction in a register of all fingerprints including those of the victims of crimes, would give the US too large an access to Hungarian criminal records. He believes that the Hungarian Parliament has to solve first the Hungarian criminal registry system before adopting the law.
The Justice and Law Enforcement Ministry and the Foreign Ministry, while expressing regrets regarding the president's decision, stated they would study his remarks and prepare a proposal in this sense.
As only part of the EU member states were benefiting of the US visa waiver program, 6 new EU member states, among which Hungary, which still needed visa for their citizens when entering the US decided to go into bilateral negotiations to become part of the visa waiver scheme. The new scheme has created concerns within the EU and EU data privacy ombudsman Peter Hustinx as well as data privacy ombudsman András Jóri protested against the regulation.
As a recent news, on 3 November, the Parliament ratified with a large majority, for a second time, the agreement for the country to join the US visa waiver program. According to the Hungarian constitution, if the document is voted in the Parliament the second time, the President has to sign the bill. Therefore, starting with 17 November, the Hungarians will be able to travel to the US without visas for up to 90 days. The only requirement is that they have to be registered electronically.
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