The French recently posted the following notice on the door to their consulate in New York City:
Visas for France are not a right. Persons applying for visas are requested to show due respect for Consular personnel. Failure to do so will result in the denial of the application and denied entry into any of the EU countries.
Those are tough words from the French. Apparently they're claiming power to deny Americans entry into their European neighbors. Andre Sorois, a UN lawyer said that the other European nations "have probably not delegated their visa authority to the French government." Sorois continued, "This is very rude, undiplomatic and probably illegal." Yeah, not to mention totally unrealistic. When have the French ever kept anyone out of their own country, let alone anyone else's? I suppose the French are planning a defensive immigration policy for the whole of Europe that is as imaginitive and effective as the Maginot Line.
