Dialogue on visa regime liberalization will continue in September

The dialogue on the liberalization of the visa regime with the EU will go on in September, Info- Prim Neo reports, quoting Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca. According to the official, two EU commissions will come to Moldova in September to assess the steps taken to liberalize the visa regime for Moldovan travelers. In the meeting of the State Commission for European Integration, Iurie Leanca said the first commission will work in Moldova during September 7-10. It will focus on document security, including the introduction of biometric passports, and on illegal migration, including readmission. The second commission will analyze the public order and security and the foreign relations. “The commissions will collect extensive information about the matters. The working group I head convenes almost daily to identify the impediments that may hinder us from fulfilling the undertaken obligations, including issuing biometric passports from January 1. We are studying the experience of the Western Balkan countries that obtained this regime and of Poland. We hope that after the two commissions present the collected information, the EU will provide us with a road map with the measures that must be taken to liberalize the visa regime and the period during which the regime will be liberalized,” Iurie Leanca said. Premier Vlad Filat instructed the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and other authorities to make sure that all the steps needed to issue biometric passports from January 1, 2010 be taken, including to prepare the tender documents for purchasing passport printing equipment so that the EU grants the promised support of €2 million for buying the equipment to Moldova.