Barbed wire at the Prut will be removed by March

The barbed wire placed along the Prut will be eliminated by March this year. A relevant order was made recently by Prime Minister Vlad Filat and is to be implemented by Border Guard Service and the local authorities, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the Government's press service. The order says the barbed wire must be removed in order to bring the situation at Moldova's state border with Romania in compliance with the national legislation and the European practices in the field. The Government also formulated a plan for liquidating the bomb protection systems on the Moldovan-Romanian sector of the state border. Under the document, meetings with the authorities of the settlements where there are border guard posts will be held throughout January, while the liquidation works will be carried out in February-March. The proposal to remove the barbed wire was submitted by members of the Ungheni District Council two years ago, when they drafted a project to modernize the surveillance system on the border. The then President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin threatened the councilors and the head of the district with jail, saying the barbed wire wasn't theirs. Recently, the Moldovan Premier Vlad Filat said the barbed wire at the border with Romania was a shame, stressing the removal of the wire will contribute to the economic development of the settlements situated on the banks of the Prut, especially after the Convention on Small-Scale Border Traffic comes into force.