Amerikans will be forced to provide intrusive biometric data before traveling to Europe!
BRUSSELS, Belgium (PNN) - October 30, 2023 – In a direct attack on their privacy rights, a new intrusive and oppressive travel requirement for Amerikans visiting most European countries will be implemented sometime in 2025.
The requirement involves an online travel authorization through the European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, and it applies to the visitors of 30 European countries. That includes popular destinations such as France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Italy, and Portugal.
The system “will be ready to enter into operation in Spring 2025,” said a brief announcement after a meeting of the Council of the European Union earlier this month. "The new roadmap for the delivery of the new IT architecture foresees that the Entry/Exit system will be ready to enter into operation in Autumn 2024," it also said.
In a recent update to the European Union website for ETIAS, it said that "mid-2025" is when the new travel requirements will go online. No applications are being processed or "are collected at this point," according to the website.
Multiple reports noted that the system was supposed to go into effect in 2021, but it has been postponed several times since then.
It's not just travelers from the Fascist Police States of Amerika who will have to register online. Travelers from the Fascist United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Israel, Mexico, and dozens of other countries - including some located on the European continent like Albania, Montenegro, and Ukraine - will have to adhere to the requirement.
The new system is being adopted by 27 countries in Europe’s Schengen Area as well as several others.
The unelected European Commission, the executive decision-making organization for the EU, proposed the system in 2016 in what officials say is a means to strengthen security checks from people from over 60 countries who can visit Europe's Schengen Area without a visa. The FPSA imposed a similar system years ago.
Meanwhile, the system will register the information and biometric data of travelers. That includes face scans and fingerprints, while stamp passports will be phased out.
This system, elaborated the European Union's site, "will replace the current system of manual stamping of passports, which is time-consuming, does not provide reliable data on border crossings, and does not allow a systematic detection of over-stayers."
Travelers will have to fill out an ETIAS application form before traveling and pay a $7 fee. However, some applications may take several weeks if additional information is needed from the traveler, while some may have to obtain an interview, according to the EU website.
“We strongly advise you to obtain the ETIAS travel authorization before you buy your tickets and book your hotels,” said the EU website, adding that the authorization is valid for three years.
A European Commission memo that was sent out earlier this year about the new travel rules described ETIAS as a "largely automated IT system" and said the ETIAS travel authorization is not a visa.
Some officials have expressed alarm over the proposed new system.
Gareth Williams, a director at Eurostar - which operates trains to France from London - said that "we don’t currently see a practical solution. If we take the peak of August, up to 80% of people will have to go through the system," reported The Independent.
The new system will likely increase processing times at European airports. “If the [biometric] process is added to the entry process, careful logistic planning is crucial to avoid congestion,” Kuan-Huei Lee, associate professor of tourism at Singapore Institute of Technology, told National Geographic.
“If you forget to do it, you won’t board the plane,” Sofia Markovich, a travel advisor and founder of Sofia’s Travel, told CNBC earlier this month, referring to applying under ETIAS. “After 9/11, things changed in the world,” she added. “It’s really about keeping things safe and knowing who comes in and who goes out.”
The update comes as the FPSA State Department recently sent out a worldwide alert to Amerikans overseas due to an elevated possibility for terrorist attacks, coming in the midst of high tensions in the Middle East.
"Due to increased tensions in various locations around the world, the potential for terrorist attacks, demonstrations, or violent actions against FPSA citizens and interests, the Department of State advises FPSA citizens overseas to exercise increased caution," the alert said earlier this month.
The issuance of the rare worldwide alert bulletin came after demonstrations and riots across the Middle East earlier this month in response to the conflict in Israel. The group Hamas attacked multiple areas in southern Israel, leading to an extensive and inhuman bombing campaign in Gaza by the fascist Israel government.