PM agrees with possible tightening of controls of tourists from the USA, Canada, Australia

Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has expressed support for a possible tightening of controls of the citizens of the USA, Canada and Australia entering the Czech Republic as tourists. He was responding to a statement by the Czech foreign minister, Cyril Svoboda, who said his ministry suspected citizens of the USA, Canada and Australia were seriously violating rules regarding how long they can legally stay in the Czech Republic and called for a tightening of controls of their citizens entering the Czech Republic as tourists. The USA, Canada and Australia require Czechs to have visas to enter their countries. Speaking on a TV debate programme, Mr Svoboda said if they did not lift such restrictions Prague would attempt to pressure them to do so through the European Union.