Poland gets the kielbasa from the U.S. with visa-waiver denial

Citizens from six former Communist countries no longer need visas to visit the United States, President Bush announced Friday. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are on the list. South Korea is on there, too.

What about Poland? The Washington Times has the story. There's also a decent case for Bulgaria, a huge Bush and U.S.-in-general supporter, although the state still grapples with corruption. Both Poland and Bulgaria have contributed substantially to the war in Iraq, and probably expected some extra points in their column for that. But Poland's continued economic success and democratic institutions (with some exceptions, of course) make the snub a bit of a surprise. Bush did say Poland, Bulgaria, and a few other EU countries might make the cut in the near future.

Additionally, Taiwan is unhappy it didn't make the cut this time, though that one is less of a surprise.