TNAG-2952-FCO40-4229-Hong-Kong-visa-free-travel-for-British-Nationals-(Overseas)--1993 — Page 4

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YOUR TELNO 1714: VISA REQUIREMENT FOR BNO

PASSPORT HOLDERS VISITING AUSTRIA

1.

It is clear from Vienna telno 334 that the Austrians will only lift their visa requirements on BN (0)s if we give them an unequivocal assurance on BN (0) returnability to the UK. This we cannot do.

2. On receipt of TUR we again approached the Home Office on this question and put to them the idea contained in your second paragraph. Their reply was that they saw no difference between accepting "theoretical" returnability to Hong Kong via the UK and the earlier proposal for the UK to accept British passport holders. They felt that an undertaking whether theoretical or not is nevertheless a commitment that should not be given unless we are prepared to honour it.

3. We feel that we have now gone as far as we can on this matter. As Vienna indicated in their telno 334 the Austrians may now reconsider their position over visa-free entry for all BDTCs. We therefore do not wish to put any further pressure on them which may tip the scales in that direction.

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