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In a world in which most western liberal democracies are slamming Trump for demanding a wall be built on the US southern border to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the US, Europe is about to erect a metaphorical wall targeting legal US travelers, because starting in 2021, U.S. citizens will need a visa to visit most European countries.
“Similar to other countries and regions in the world Europe has recently decided to improve their security level to avoid any further problems with illegal migration and terrorism,” the EU said.
U.S. citizens traveling to Europe for less than 90 days currently only need a passport, but the European Union announced Friday that starting in 2021 they will need a visa to visit most European countries. The decision follows an EU announcement in June of 2018 that it was in favor of imposing visas on U.S. citizens in the five countries, and the creation of a European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, that will require “pre-travel screening for security and migration risks of travelers benefiting from visa-free access to the Schengen area”, i.e. Americans. At the time, Dimitris Avramopoulos, the European commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, indicated that the requirement was put in place for security reasons.
