Some in the EU think so, but the various parties involved hope to resolve the long-running dispute before summer travel season.
In response to President Donald Trump's travel ban, the European Parliament is now requiring travel visas from all U.S. citizens. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
The European Parliament, the legislative arm of the European Union, has called on the EU executive to require travelling U.S. citizens to obtain visas before travelling to the continent this summer.
The nonbinding resolution passed Thursday is the result of an as-yet unresolved dispute between the U.S. and the EU, regarding U.S. restrictions on travel from five EU member nations. The dispute precedes President Donald Trump's administration, going as far back as 2014. Poland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Cyprus are not granted visa-free access to the United States.
The resolution adopted by parliament calls on the European Commission to adopt reciprocal legal measures "within two months" but is non-binding, according to a European Parliament news release.
For some in the EU though, a restriction on one nation, or five, is seen as a restriction on all 28 member states.
"Only when the U.S. fully gets that the European Commission is going to act are we going to get any kind of timetable from the United States," said MEP Claude Moraes of the U.K.. "At the moment, the U.S. just believes the commission is not going to act but stick with the pragmatic argument that doing so would create damage that's just too great."
A Commission official said the EU has reached out to the Trump administration "to push for full visa reciprocity," but a deal has not been struck.
Some outlets are raising the prospect of a "visa war" if the issue is not resolved. Trump and some members of this team have spoken skeptically of the European project. He has lauded the British vote to exit the union, and has said loose borders in Europe have aided extremists.
"There's no denying heightened concern about the current administration. But that's more about uncertainty about who's in charge and how the State Department is working," he said.
