Foreign Minister Natalia Gherman says Moldova is just one step away from obtaining visa-free travels in the EU for its citizens, and this could happen as early as in the first half of this year. Speaking at a nightly talk show on national television Wednesday, Gherman said her statement was inspired by the favorable vote offered earlier that day by the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee, IPN reports.

“This had been slated for a vote in March. However, the European Parliament has found it necessary to reward Moldova’s progresses by stepping up the process of liberalizing the visa regime for the Moldovans,” stated the minister.

Speaking at the same show, Victor Chirila, director of the foreign policy think-tank APE, ventured to guess that the visa-free travels could be introduced on May 9, when Europe Day could also become “a national holiday for the Moldovans”.

The show’s guests agreed that there are no such risks that are capable of interrupting the visa liberalization process. At the same time, Natalia Gherman called on the Moldovan citizens not to abuse this privilege. “Those Moldovans who will violate the terms of travel and stay in the EU countries will face fines of 3,000 euros and a 5-year ban on further travels”, she warned.

Nataliei Gherman added that, even with the visa liberalization, the border authorities in the Schengen area will still be entitled to require Moldovan travelers to produce evidence of funds or documents confirming the purpose of travel.