Romania is willing to coordinate joint EU visa issuance centre

The Romanian Minister of Administration and Interior Vasile Blaga will propose to the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) Council of the European Union on the 15 February 2007 to put Romania in charge of the administration of the joint pilot centre of the EU member states for issuing visas in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo learned from the Romanian Ministry of Administration and Interiors. According to Minister Vasile Blaga, by involving in this project as a co-ordinator, Romania would become an interface between the visa applicants and the Member State of the Union, which would lead to quicker procedures, in light of the linguistic similitude and the expertise of the Romanian consular staff in the relations with the Moldovan Republic. Besides these arguments, Romania has the advantage of a consistent diplomatic presence within the territory of the Republic of Moldova. Thus, the Romanian state will soon acquire a new building in Chisinau, which will be fit up in compliance with the Schengen standards, and will open consular offices in Cahul and Balti. At the same time, the personnel of the consular services within the Romanian Embassy in Chisinau, has been increased. All these measures will contribute to the development of the visa application processing capacity as well as to reducing the distances the applicants have to cover for solving their problems. On the occasion of the JHA Council Reunion on February 15 2007, Minister Vasile Blaga will present a request to the representatives of the European Commission and to those of the Member States to support the conclusion, as soon as possible, an agreement meant to facilitate the visa regime, as well as the readmission agreement with the Republic of Moldova. Minister of Administration and Interior also believes that the absence of such a document leads to groundless discriminating treatment between the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, on one hand, and those of Ukraine, Russia and the states of the Western Balkans, on the other hand, who are benefiting from such an agreement or are have advanced negotiations for concluding such an agreement. Recently, Moldovan deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, Valeriu Ostalep stated that the Joint visa issuance centre will start its activity in April at Hungary’s Embassy in Chisinau. Austrian and Slovenian consular officials will work within the centre. Representatives from other 3 states are to join them later.