Moldovan citizens to benefit from facilities when receiving EU visas

The Readmission Agreement and the Visa Facilitation Agreement between Moldova and the European Union will be signed on April 25. The latter includes several facilities when obtaining visas for the EU member countries. This fact was decided as a result of the talks which took place in Brussels on April 17-18. The facilities include, for example, a price of EUR 35 (compared with EUR 60 for other countries); free visas for several categories of citizens (students, citizens under 18, representatives of the civil society, the persons participating in cultural and sports events, carriers, pensioners, journalists, business persons). The Agreement also includes the “bona fidae” principle, according to which several categories of citizens (representatives of the civil society, students, participants in cultural, scientific and sports events, participants in cultural exchanges between settlements) who had previously obtained visas for the EU member countries and observed all the conditions imposed by the receiving state, could obtain multi-entry visas for a period of 1 year and more. At the same time, the Agreement stipulates the possibility of issuing free visas for Romania and Bulgaria, until these countries join the Schengen space. The documents will be signed by Franco Frattini, vice president of the European Commission, European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, and Andrei Stratan, deputy prime-minister, minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.