Seven ex-communist members of European Union hired a lobbying firm to help them push legislation that would waive US visas for their citizens, Czech Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Opletalova confirmed Monday.
"The issue of visas for our countries is not a priority for US lawmakers," Opletalova said, as cited by dpa. "The firm should be a prolonged arm of our embassies whose strength would not have been sufficient."
According to Hospodarske noviny daily report, the countries chose Dutko Worldwide, a lobbying firm whose Prague branch was formerly headed by former Czech ambassador to the US and current Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs, Alexandr Vondra.
"That did not play any role," Opletalova said. "What played a role were the contacts the firm has in the US Congress."
Each country - the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Lithuania, Latvia and Romania - is to pay 5,000 dollars a month for Dutko services as long as is necessary, Opletalova said.
While the Bush administration has supported the Eastern European visa-lifting drive, any change lies in the hands of the Democratic Congress.
Under the current Visa Waiver programme, the United States does not require visas from citizens of 15 of the 27 countries in the EU, but the scheme does not apply to Greece or the 10 new member states, except Slovenia.
Several EU nations, including Greece and Slovakia, have struck back by introducing visa restrictions for US diplomats.
US ambassador to the EU Boyden Gray said last week that Washington is likely to extend the visa-free entry for the eleven EU member states not covered by the waiver scheme by the end of the year.