Leanca ready to resign over visa liberalization

Moldova's Foreign Minister Iurie Leanca has stated he is going to tender his resignation in late December, acting on earlier promises to step down if Moldova failed to obtain visa liberalization with the EU by the end of 2012, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Like I promised, in late December I intend to give the Prime Minister my resignation letter. For the citizens however it's not my resignation that is important, but rather when they can have this visa liberalization that they have been waiting for so long”, Leanca stated at a conference summing up his yearly activity. The Minister went on to express his conviction that the authorities would eventually manage, perhaps by the mid-2013, to meet the requirements of the visa liberalization Action Plan. He added that the objectives will be fully achieved, due to a “better cooperation climate” which he said exists today within the Eurointegration Alliance and Parliament. On several earlier occasions, Iurie Leanca promised Moldova would enjoy a liberalized visa regime with the EU by the end of 2012. Later, a number of officials, including from the EU, named September 2013 as the target date.