Roadmap is not a guarantee that visa regime will be liberalized, expert

Moldova is the only hope for the Eastern Partnership to prove its viability. This can explain Brussels’s openness towards Chisinau in the talks on the liberalization of the visa regime, said the executive director of the Foreign Police Association Victor Chirila. The expert stated the roadmap that is to be obtained by Moldova, which contains the terms and steps that must be taken, is not a guarantee that the visa regime with the EU will be liberalized as permanent reforms must be implemented, based on political will. According to Victor Chirila, the visa-free regime must be regarded in the context of the formulation of democratic reforms. It is not excluded that the announced period of 18 months for obtaining a visa-free regime will be extended if a force that wants closer relations with Russia comes to power and changes Moldova’s foreign policy vector. Foreign Police Association program director Radu Vrabie gave as example Ukraine, which opened the dialogue with the EU in 2008. Owing to the elections and political instability in this country, no headway was made with these negotiations. Currently Ukraine is at the same stage as Moldova in the dialogue with the EU. In October, Moldova will enter the operational phase of the liberalized visa regime with the EU. Prime Minister Vlad Filat said earlier that according to the experience of other countries, a visa-free regime is instituted about 18 months after obtaining the roadmap. The term of 18 months was also stated by Italian Foreign Minister Franco Fratini during a meeting of Moldova’s EU friends that took place in Chisinau late in September.