Spain in favour of UAE visa waiver

Mahmoud Sulaiman. Following Spain's initial and unambiguous support to lifting visas to UAE nationals, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, has publicly supported this initiative by sending a letter to Cecilia Malmstrom, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, recommending that the UAE is included in Annex II of Council Regulation (EC) No 539/2001 of 15 March 2001 listing the third countries whose nationals must be in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from that requirement, according to the Spanish Embassy in Abu Dhabi. "This regulation harmonises the visa requirements for non-European Union nationals entering the EU. It provides a common list of countries whose nationals must hold a visa when crossing the external borders of a Member State (Annex I), but also lists the countries whose nationals are exempt from the visa requirement for stays of maximum three months (Annex II)," the Spanish Embassy said in a statement today. In this regard, in line with the many reasons that Spain has constantly raised in different realms, the Minister has reiterated to the European Commissioner the mutual benefits for both parties in approving such a measure in all aspects (economic, political and cultural), the Embassy added.