Civil society dissatisfied with way the visa facilitation agreement is implemented

The Association for Participatory Democracy ADEPT and the Ecological Association Eco-TIRAS consider that though the new visa facilitation agreement is regarded by the central authorities as one of the most important accomplishments under the EU-Moldova Action Plan, it is not designed to solve the problems of the ordinary people, but of the government officials that now have the possibility of traveling visa free to the EU member states. At a news conference on January 15, ADEPT director Igor Botan said the fact that the members of nongovernmental associations must present proofs that they pay the public utilities regularly in order to obtain EU entry visas is a blow to the human dignity. He also said that the journalists applying for visas must present a certificate or another document issued by a professional organisation, which proves that the applicant is a qualified journalist, and this arouses questions. Igor Botan stated that though the NGO members have been included in the categories that are issued with visas under a facilitated regime and are exempted from paying a visa tax, he personally is ready to pay 35 euros to get a visa than to be subjected to such humiliation. He said that last year he refused to take part in 15 conferences held in the EU so as not to be humiliated when asked to present proofs that he is a decent citizen when applying for visa. The ADEPT director also said that the fact that the members of nongovernmental organisations are asked to present work record cards is also an impediment to obtaining visas as they are not required to have such a card under the national legislation. The artists that can be also freelancers are in a similar situation. The executive director of Eco-TIRAS Ilia Trombitski said that the long-route drivers form part of the category of people that are issued with free multiple visas for one, two or five years, but the Italian Embassy based in Bucharest continues to levy the tax of 35 euros and gives them visas for half a year only, even if they did not violate the movement rules within the EU. The two organizations appealed to the general public to minutely monitor how the consular missions of the EU member states and the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration implement the visa facilitation agreement.