"Parliament on Monday ratified for a second time the last agreement necessary for the country to join the US visa waiver program. MPs approved the modified pact with 360 affirmative votes and five abstentions.The agreement had been sent back by President László Sólyom for reconsideration on October 20. He had complained that it gave US crime-fighting authorities access to all fingerprint records in the Hungarian criminal database, including those of victims of crime. The amended Act takes his objections into account.
EU data privacy ombudsman Peter Hustinx had also objected to the stipulation, as did data privacy ombudsman András Jóri.
Hungarians may travel to the US without visas for up to 90 days from November 17, although they will have to be registered electronically."
Source: Hungary Around the Clock.
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04.11.2008