The European Union presidency’s reaction to the announcement that Canada will impose visa requirements on Czech tourists is childish and spiteful. Instead of respecting Canada’s legitimate need to clamp down on the number of bogus refugee claims coming from Czech citizens, Swedish Migration and Asylum Policy Minister Tobias Billstroem said, “As the presidency of the EU, we are in favour of this reciprocity.”

If there is no problem among the EU with restrictions on Romania and Bulgaria, there should be none either for the Czech Republic. Statistics show that in 2008, some 3,000 people from the Czech Republic applied to be refugees in Canada, compared to just 78 in 2007.The numbers shot up after Canada removed the visa requirement for Czechs in late 2007. Kenney’s announcement this week entails a necessary restoration of the visa requirement, not a new imposition of it.

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