The Moldovan citizens from the Transnistrian region will also benefit from the visa-free regime and free trade with the European Union. Chisinau held negotiations with the EU as a sovereign state, without dividing the country into the right bank and the left bank of the Nistru, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party Vlad Filat said in the public debate “How much additional freedom can free movement in Europe bring to Moldovans and what can they do with it?”, organized by IPN Agency.

“The held negotiations involved Moldova as a sovereign and independent state. The conditions are equal for all the people. Everyone will be able to travel with a biometric passport. We assumed responsibilities that are to ensure integrated border management. As regards the Association Agreement, we didn’t divide Moldova into two. We negotiated benefits for the eastern districts too,” stated the politician

Vlad Filat underlined that there are conditions that must be respected by the Transaction economic entities too if they want to benefit from the free trade regime with the EU. “Of the total exports of Transnistria, 50% go to the EU. So, Transnistria’s exports are dependent on the European market. The statements made by Tiraspol in this respect are speculative. They do not aim to promote people’s interests,” he said.

According to the politician, when the Association Agreement with the EU was negotiated, it wasn’t easy to convince Tiraspol to delegate representatives on its behalf, but the Transnistrian administration accepted to send only observers.

The public debate “How much additional freedom can free movement in Europe bring to Moldovans and what can they do with it?” is the 28th of the series “Development of political culture by public debates”. IPN has staged these debates for the third year with the support of Hanns Seidel Foundation and in cooperation with Radio Moldova.