Andrei Popov: Moldova won’t avail of a visa free regime with the Schengen states in the next 3 years. Info-Prim Neo commentary, part I

President Vladimir Voronin showed optimism at a news conference on July 25 as regards the possibility of setting a visa free regime with the EU countries by the end of this year, so that the Moldovan citizens could travel within the Schengen area under the same terms as the citizens of the new EU member states. But these assertions weren’t made according to the reality, political analyst Andrei Popov states in a commentary to Info-Prim Neo. Popov recalls the main points of those statements by Vladimir Voronin: “The agreement on facilitating the visa regime is already in force. We are working now on expanding its stipulations over all the citizens travelling within the EU and on obtaining a visa free regime, like all the EU member states. The European Union promised to try by the end of this year to solve out this problem. That is why it is important to convince both Brussels and all the EU member states. In this respect, Moldova is to organise in Chisinau on August 24 a conference with all the European foreign deputy ministers. More than a half of them have already confirmed their attendance. This initiative represents an excellent opportunity to convince the EU to grant us a visa-free movement regime”. [Assertions divorced from reality] According to Popov, the President is right about one thing: it is indeed very important to cooperate with all the EU member states, and not only with Brussels. But a different impression has been created so far in most of the European capital cities where Chisinau diplomatic missions exist, and namely, that, on the contrary, Moldova disregards the role of the member states. The rest of Voronin’s speech is divorced from reality, the analyst thinks. The Agreement on facilitating the visa regime isn’t in force. This will happen only in January 2008. The EU has never promised to assist Moldova in getting the visa-free movement regime, not to mention by the end of this year. The conference of the Foreign Deputy Ministers isn’t convoked in Chisinau, but in Brussels. This isn’t a brilliant idea, but an unsuccessful one, which is moreover implemented poorly. Not mentioning “more than a half of deputy ministers” who would have already confirmed their participation. It would be excellent if in the end at least 4 or 5 would turn up. The respective meeting cannot bring any changes for the better in the EU politics towards Moldova, generally speaking, and in the visa free regime issue, in particular. Moldova’s relations with the European Union aren’t being developed by organising conferences, but through actions and reforms, the analyst mentions. [Arguments on “the divorce”] Andrei Popov says the agreement on facilitating the visa free regime, approved on April 25, will come into force only in January 2008, after being signed and ratified. This document stipulates the simplification of visa issuance only for certain categories of people, visa-free travels for holders of diplomatic passports, keeping the visa fee at 35 euro, as well as a series of other secondary facilities (for instance, reducing by a few days the term for visa application processing). In this context, Popov recalls that concomitantly with Moldova, the European Union negotiated and sanctioned similar agreements with all the countries in the Western Balkans, the agreement with Russia is already in force, and that with Ukraine will come into force within the next months. Some Moldovan officials and diplomats hurried up to state in public that Moldova managed to obtain from the EU more facilities than Ukraine and Russia. The analyst asserted he didn’t see the sanctioned document, but until it is proved contrary, he is determined to believe the negotiators of the European Commission, who said him that the Agreement with Moldova is practically identical to the Ukrainian one (which is very similar to the Russian one). Even more, the Moldovan act hasn’t been practically negotiated, only the EU Commission draft being sanctioned with a few minor changes. In fact, the same experts in Brussels say the Agreement with Moldova was negotiated the least and the quickest among all of them. Paradoxically, after starting the talks with maximum ambitions, insisting on a visa free regime, Moldova had to negotiate the same facilitation agreement, but did it in a hurry and superficially within a 3 round sprint, while other states had 6 and 9 rounds, with Russia negotiating it in general within 5 years. [Greater appetite than the pocket] Experts in the Commission agree that Moldova could have been granted more facilities, if it wouldn’t have started the talks with the wrong leg, making some absurd requests, but would have approached a reasonable position, motivating thoroughly its demands within the limits of the mandate which the Commission got in December 2006 from the member states. Or, Chisinau preferred to use the “shock diplomacy” manner. According to the analyst, within the first round, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI) didn’t come to negotiate, but to present the Union with a real ultimatum: “we don’t need a facilitation regime; we’ll accept either the visa free regime or nothing”. The Commission’s first reaction wasn’t “constructive” or “understanding” at all, as the MFAEI communiqué read, but one full of stupefaction and annoyance. After recovering from the initial shock, the European Commission warned Moldova that it is playing with fire and is chancing not to be able to reach at least the facilitation agreement, and this way the Moldovans would get the most difficult access to the Schengen area in the whole territory and would pay a doubled visa fee, that is 60 euro instead of 35. Moldova’s position returned within the normal limits, only after President Voronin was officially informed by the highest European level of the political costs and consequences incurred if Chisinau refuses to negotiate under the Commission’s mandate: “either you sign what we propose by the end of the April, or the talks will last for an unspecified period of time”. Afterwards, Chisinau’s position changed overnight. Without gaining anything, except for a rumpled image of an unreliable country with minimum room for manoeuvre, Moldova is quickly concluding the negotiations. The facilitation agreement is sanctioned on April 25 on the occasion of Commissioner Franco Frattini’s visit to Chisinau. The Europeans feel bitter about it, but at least they believe that Chisinau understood the rules of the game and, from now on, it will stop being so adolescent and irresponsible. [Neither in 2008, nor in 2009, nor in 2010] But exactly after only three months, on July 25, President Voronin all of a sudden talks again about the possibility of getting even within the next six months the visa free movement within Europe. Given that the visa facilitation agreement hasn’t even yet come into force, the head of state is groundlessly feeding the population’s expectations, encouraging them to believe in something which a priori isn’t possible. The European Union has informed him of this fact on numerous occasions both directly and through MFAEI. The sad reality is that Moldova will not avail of a visa free regime with the Schengen states by the end of this year, or in 2008, or probably in 2009-2010, Andrei Popov concludes.