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A message from the
desk of Basil Mossaidis
Thursday, March 11, 2010
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Contact: Basil Mossaidis
BMossaidis@ahepa.org
Phone: (202) 232-6300
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The Road to Policy Success:
A Review of Greece's VWP Designation
by Basil N. Mossaidis, Executive Director of AHEPA
A tremendous moment in U.S.-Greece relations was achieved when the United States designated Greece a Visa Waiver Program (VWP) nation on March 9, 2010. AHEPA Supreme President Nicholas A. Karacostas immediately hailed this announcement as one that will strengthen the long-standing strategic partnership between the two NATO allies. Greece's VWP designation means trade and commerce between the countries will flourish and tourism to the United States will increase. The strict security standards Greece had to meet, including passenger information sharing and screening will help to protect our citizens. Finally, Greece's inclusion in the VWP is a tremendous source of pride for the Greek American community, making it easier for relatives to visit, especially at a moment's notice.
What is the Visa Waiver Program?
The Visa Waiver Program enables nationals of 36 participating countries to travel to the United States for tourism or business for stays of 90 days or less without obtaining a visa. VWP travelers are required to have a valid authorization through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to travel, are screened at the port of entry into the United States, and are enrolled in the Department of Homeland Security's US-VISIT program.
The Merits of Greece's Candidacy
For all the aforementioned reasons, AHEPA championed Greece's designation to become a visa waiver nation. Beginning in April 2006, during AHEPA's annual excursion to Greece, AHEPA Supreme President Gus J. James, II learned and identified that Greece's candidacy to become a VWP nation was ripe for resolution following meetings at the American Embassy in Athens and with Greek government officials. After all, at the time Greece was the only one of the original 15 European Union nations, and a Schengen country, not to be a VWP member. It offered visa-free travel reciprocity to American citizens for 90 days. Greece's passport biometrics were state-of-the-art, surpassing even the biometrics of passports of the original 27 VWP countries. Moreover, Greece's visa refusal rate of 1.6 percent was far below the maximum allowable rate by law.
In addition, following a December 13, 2006 meeting with Greece's then-Former Minister of Tourism, Fanny Palli-Petralia, then-Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, R. Nicholas Burns (an Ahepan), stated the U.S. government wanted "�to proceed as quickly as possible to work out arrangements to provide Visa Waiver Status...Greece's entry into the Visa Waiver Program is crucial for the development of tourism and commerce between the two nations; however, there is also something to be said about the goodwill this will generate, not just with Greece, but with the European Union as well."
Greece's candidacy to become a VWP nation had merit.
AHEPA's historical role as a reliable bridge between the United States and Greece for eight decades positioned AHEPA as a credible champion on the issue. AHEPA viewed Greece's VWP status as an issue that affected the personal lives of a majority of Greek Americans who have family in Greece as well as our fellow American citizens who are impacted by the ability to attract or conduct business effectively and efficiently abroad either via tourism or other forms of commerce. Therefore, upon his return to the United States, then-Supreme President James made Greece's candidacy a priority to AHEPA family members and the entire community.
AHEPA's Work on the VWP Issue
Since the fall of 2006, AHEPA worked diligently on the VWP issue by creating awareness of it to key audiences in Washington and by seeking clarification of how the VWP admission process actually worked. Not only did the merits of Greece's candidacy need to be promoted, but also the benefits of expanding the VWP as a whole. This included:
- Holding AHEPA's first of many face-to-face meetings with the Department of Homeland Security in September 2006.
- Working with our champions in Congress, comprising mostly of Hellenic Caucus members, to position Greece to the Bush Administration as a leading candidate for inclusion. This included the introduction of legislation designating Greece a VWP nation by Hellenic Caucus Co-Chair U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), which was supported by fellow Caucus Co-Chair U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL); and members of Congress sending letters of support to administration officials. Also there were successful congressional efforts in September 2007 to ensure that funds appropriated to expand the VWP were not eliminated from the federal budget.
- Hosting a public policy forum in January 2007 on Capitol Hill with leading administration, congressional, European Union, and think-tank policy experts to raise the visibility of the importance of expanding the Visa Waiver Program for all countries who qualify.
- Outreaching to build coalitions with major travel industry trade associations that supported expansion of the VWP.
Also in 2007, policymakers in Washington became more comfortable with the notion of expanding the VWP when Congress passed S.4, Improving America's Security Act of 2007 in August. The bill included a provision in Title V, Section 501 authored by Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH), an Ahepan, which enhanced and strengthened the security measures of the VWP.
As a result of all these measures, Greece became the only nation to be formally nominated by the Department of State in September 2007. The nomination allowed the Department of Homeland Security to begin the evaluation process.
Fall 2008: Greece's VWP Roadmap "On Hold"
Following Greece's nomination by the State Department, Homeland Security began to send teams to conduct the necessary security reviews that are required by law. All initial reports were positive. However, it became clear that Greece's path to become a VWP nation had stalled. AHEPA meetings with agency officials revealed that a "political issue" based on Greece's exercising her right to veto the inclusion of FYROM into NATO in April 2008 placed Greece's path "on hold."
Then-AHEPA Supreme President Ike Gulas found this situation unacceptable. In October 2008, on the eve of the United States' planned expansion of the VWP to include an additional seven countries, but not Greece, he wrote a strongly-worded letter to President George W. Bush stating AHEPA's "discontent" with the administration's policy toward Greece and her path to become a VWP nation.
"We deem the obstruction in Greece's roadmap to become a visa waiver nation as an act by the United States that is unacceptable and extremely disconcerting to the American Hellenic community. We contend it is an act that is in retaliation to a Greek policy that has no bearing on Greece's well-documented merits to join the VWP."
AHEPA's letter urged President Bush to "intervene and provide a 'green light' so that Greece's rightful path to become a VWP nation can proceed to fruition."
In addition, Supreme President Gulas initiated a vigorous grassroots campaign via AHEPA's electronic network and mobilized the Greek American community, urging individuals to write to President Bush to remove the "political hold" that had been placed on Greece's VWP path. This yielded hundreds of emails with some folks providing personal accounts of their frustrations with the visa process. The grassroots campaign was successful as the Executive Branch removed its "political hold," and despite flurries of opposition to VWP expansion on Capitol Hill, the process for Greece to become a VWP restarted.
Substantial Progress Made in 2009
In 2009, both the United States and Greece worked together to sign a Memorandum of Understanding and a series of technical documents on information sharing and fighting crime that culminated in a signing ceremony with Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and then-Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis in June 2009. Homeland Security did its part in 2009 to revisit security measures on the ground in Greece to ensure they were up to standard following the lull of activity on this issue in 2008. The Greek Parliament, following elections in October 2009, ratified the technical agreements that were signed. Newly-elected AHEPA Supreme President Nicholas Karacostas continued the work of his predecessors by keeping the visa waiver issue on the radar screens of key audiences in Washington.
Consul General of San Francisco Xenia Stefanidou, who represented the Embassy of Greece and the Foreign Ministry, at the AHEPA Family at the 87th Annual Grand Banquet, July 3, 2009, stated:
"On this occasion, I would like to acknowledge, on behalf of the government of Greece, that the efforts and support of this significant organization [AHEPA] have greatly contributed to the substantial progress in the visa issue," said Stefanidou. "For this development, we are very grateful to the AHEPA family."
Although the original hope was for Greece to receive its designation in the fall of 2009, the formal designation could not have come at a better time for Greece as Prime Minister George Papandreou made his first visit to Washington March 8-10.
AHEPA is proud of the role it played to see Greece become a U.S. VWP nation. The organization, through its leadership, members, and staff, worked diligently, even through transition periods, in a team effort with Congress, federal agencies, media outlets, and other Greek American and trade organizations, to:
- create awareness and raise visibility of the merits of Greece's candidacy,
- correct an unjust position taken by the Executive Branch, and
- cooperate with other organizations to ensure the Visa Waiver Program-as a whole-became a more secure program that ultimately benefits the United States, its economy, and its relationships with its allies.
AHEPA commends the Greek government which worked hard to meet the United States' strict security criteria over the past four years. Likewise to be commended are Homeland Security, the State Department, and Congress. They all kept on top of the issue and remained engaged even when there were lulls in the process. Greek American media outlets kept the issue front-and-center of the community. Congratulations to the entire AHEPA staff for their support and hard work on this issue. Special note of thanks go to previous Director of Communications Michael Zachariades, and Government Relations Consultant Andrew Kaffes, who were all personally saluted by Supreme President Karacostas for their efforts over the years.
In closing, AHEPA sincerely appreciates the efforts of each individual or organization who contributed to help make Greece's designation into the United States Visa Waiver Program a monumental success.
Fraternally,
Basil Mossaidis, Executive Director
See Related:
AHEPA is the largest Greek-American association in the world with chapters in the United States, Canada, Greece, Cyprus, and sister chapters in Australia and New Zealand. It was established in 1922 by visionary Greek Americans to protect Hellenes from prejudice originating from the KKK, and in its history, AHEPA joined with the NAACP and B'nai B'rith International to fight discrimination.
The mission of the AHEPA family is to promote the ancient Greek ideals of education, philanthropy, civic responsibility and family and individual excellence through community service and volunteerism.
For more information about the AHEPA family, or how to join, please contact AHEPA Headquarters, (202) 232-6300, or visit www.ahepa.org. To learn more about the AHEPA National Educational Foundation, please visit www.ahepa.org/education.