In 18 months, Moldovans will travel visa-free in Europe, if ...

Moldova might receive the first plan of action for liberalizing the visa regime on October 25. If this plan is fulfilled, in 18 months the Moldovan people will be able to travel visa-free through the EU, Info-Prim Neo reports. The road map for liberalizing the visa regime could be given to Moldova on October 25, when the EU foreign ministers will hold a meeting, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Moldova Dirk Schuebel said in a news conference on October 19. The European official said a mission of EU experts r visited Moldova in Septembeand formulated a number of recommendations for the Government. If the talks on the issue go smoothly, Moldova might receive the first plan of action for liberalizing the visa regime on October 25. The plan describes the reforms that the Government of Moldova must implement to obtain a visa-free regime with the EU, Schuebel stated. “We support this process, namely the process of issuing biometric passports that will become compulsory from January 1, 2011. We launched a relevant project and held a tender contest for purchasing the necessary equipment that will be handed over to the Moldovan authorities,” Dirk Schuebel added. In the meeting of the group of Moldova's EU friends on September 30, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Moldova could benefit from a visa-free regime 18 months after obtaining the road map. The liberalized regime will allow the Moldovans to enter the EU visa-free and stay there for 90 days. The discussions between the EU and Moldova center on four areas: security of documents; illegal migration and readmission; public order and security; foreign relations, and observance of the international agreements, especially on human rights.