US to grant Visa Waiver for Poland. Romania still waits

US president, Donald Trump, kept his word and had US State Department formally invite Poland for Visa Waiver program. The Polish citizens will be able to travel for business and touristic purposes without visa to the United States.

While Poland is content with this announcement, Romania has to swallow another bitter pill – the country is on the waiting list for too long and Romanians have no defined time frame for when this is going to happen for them as well.

Both countries have a strong relationship with the US, both economical and military, as Poland and Romania are the only countries in the E.U. which host American missile defensive system on their territories. This is a clear delimitation between the way US approach these two countries in terms of diplomatic relationship and it is clear that Poland is the favorite one, for no apparent reason.

Still, we do have to take into consideration the sheer numbers: while Poland has an annual $10 bln worth trade relations with the US, Romania struggles around $ 3 bln. Numbers do count, no doubt about that.

Another aspect to consider is the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is about to be finalized and which will deliver Russian gas to E.U. at half the price than the American one. Poland is rumored to have been asked to halt the project, and there are speculations that this Waiver Visa is a reward to Polish efforts to do that.