European Union to look into Visa issues
Mr Wilson said the actions were being agreed to be taken up by the headquarters and he alone cannot agree to the issues raised by the PM. The reason being that the issues raised by the PM were classified as member state issues, hence, it needed to be progressed.
The European Union (EU) has agreed to look into the concerns raised by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, over the issuing of visas to Fijians travelling to EU-member countries. This was stated by the EU Ambassador to Fiji and the Pacific, Julian Wilson, during a press conference at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva yesterday.
Mr Wilson said this was a very clear prioritisation raised by Mr Bainimarama during the High Level Political Dialogue between Fiji and the EU this week.
He said this was a matter of concern about the issuance of visas to Fijian citizens. Mr Bainimarama had said Fiji was one of the few Pacific Island countries whose citizens had to get visas before they could travel to European Union member countries. Others could get them on arrival.
Mr Wilson said actions on this were now agreed to be taken up by their headquarters.
He said more than 20 actions have been agreed upon to move the EUFiji relations forward.
He said the duration for these actions to take place was between 18 to 24 months.
Out of the 20 actions, Mr Wilson flagged three actions to discuss. “The Prime Minister has put great importance on climate change and we have been working out on concrete actions to build a coalition for ambition, as the PM has clear ambitions for COP23. Especially looking forward to expand commitments towards Target 1.5,” Mr Wilson said.
The second action that the EU is working on is moving the economic partnership forward, because this agreement offers potential for both the EU and for Fiji.
There will be a seminar conducted by the Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz SayedKhaiyum, to discuss in detail about this partnership agreement. The third action which Mr Wilson hailed as a ‘pebble in the shoe’, was the visa issue to Fijian citizens travelling to the EU.
He said that it was a long term desire to see Fijians issued visas on arrival and the visa application procedures available in Suva. Mr Wilson said the actions were being agreed to be taken up by the headquarters and he alone cannot agree to the issues raised by the PM. The reason being that the issues raised by the PM were classified as member state issues, hence, it needed to be progressed. Mr Wilson addressing the actions coming out of the consultations said: “I would like to reassure the A-G that the group has worked on these issues, identified actions that can be taken and now they are going to take it to the relevant authorities in Brussels.” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said Fiji was keen to work out these issues with the EU and he looked forward to further consolidating this Fiji-EU relationship.