Hungary's political parties agree to US conditions for visa waiver

All five political parties in Hungary's parliament agreed to meet conditions required by the United States in order to grant Hungarian citizens a visa waiver, they told MTI on Friday after representatives met with senior foreign ministry officials and the US ambassador.

The meeting covered the timetable for joining the visa waiver programme as focused on the final accord needed - one on an exchange of criminal data. Plans call for signing this accord next week, which according to the US embassy, will intensify law-enforcement cooperation between the two countries and help prevent serious crime. The accord will improve security for both the United States and Hungary, the embassy statement noted.

The visa waiver is expected to go into effect early next year.