Approximately 1.5 million Moldovans travelled visa-free in the European Union since the abolition of the visa requirements by the EU for Moldova in 2014. Of the total number, 1.1 million citizens or 79% returned to the country, IPN reports.

According to the Border Police, most of the Moldovan citizens chose to cross the border through the Leuseni-Albita customs post. At this post, the border police logged over 500,000 persons. The Leuseni-Albita customs post is followed by the Chisinau International Airport. This was used by over 270,000 holders of biometric passports to fly to the EU.

Since the start of this year until April 23, there were recorded over 449,000 crossings by persons who travelled to the EU, mainly male and mostly people aged between 26 and 35.

According to the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union, since the visa regime with the EU was liberalized on April 28, 2014 until December 31, 2017, slightly over 14,000 Moldovans were refused entry to the EU because they didn’t meet the entrance conditions, had insufficient financial resources or stayed longer than allowed in the Member States.