At the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit of November 29, 2013, Moldova will enter a new stage of relations with the European Union. What will it bring and how will it influence the life of the Moldovans from the country and from abroad? What will each of us gain and what should we do for this benefit to become possible? How will the new conditions affect Moldova’s relations with other countries? The IPN Agency aims to look for answers to these and other questions worrying society, together with you, within the series of articles “Association with the EU to everyone’s understanding”.
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For the Moldovans to be able to travel visa-free to the EU member states, the Moldovan authorities pledged to meet a number of conditions in a number of areas, the main of which is the one concerning security and biometry of documents. After the European Commission establishes that all the conditions were fulfilled, it will launch the procedure for amending the EU regulations and Moldova will be struck off the list of states that need visas.
The abolition of the visa regime will enable the Moldovans to travel freely in the EU for a period of 90 days within six months, based on a valid biometric passport. However, at the border crossing point the border officer can ask the travelers to present justificatory documents or proofs of the purpose of the trip and that they have sufficient financial resources for the stay, said Daniela Morari, deputy head of the General European Integration Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.
In order to facilitate the visa-free trips to Europe, there is used the one person – one biometric passport principle, even in the case of small children. If the travelers do not obey the limits of the period of stay, they can be denied access the next time they will want to enter the EU. The liberalized visa regime does not apply to studies, trips for work purposes or family reunification. In these cases, a national visa is needed for the country of destination.
“The people’s role and contribution to obtaining and implementing a liberalized visa regime are very important. They should first of all support the reforms and then obey the conditions of the given regime. Any abuse on the part of the Moldovans can favor the reintroduction of visas by the EU,” said Daniela Morari.
For the visa regime to be abolished, Moldova carried out a plan of action that consisted of two phases. The first phase referred to the adjustment of the legislation to the EU acquis, while the second to the implementation of the adopted reforms. “Moldova is now completing the fulfillment of the conditions of the second phase. The European Commission is to present a final assessment report before the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit of this November,” stated Daniela Morari.
Before the liberalization of the visa regime, a period of time is needed for amending the European documents. “It will be a period during which we will inform society and will train the border bodies,” added Daniela Morari.
Moldova abolished unilaterally the visa regime for the EU citizens in 2008.
Elena Bolshenko, IPN
