Romanian ethnics settled near the border of Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine will enter Romania without visas

The Council of Justice and Foreign Ministers of the European Union decided that the member countries can maintain or can sign agreements with the neighbor countries on border passage, BBC Romania informs, cited by Info-Prim Neo. According to the cited source, although this is a departing from the rules related to crossing external borders included in the Schengen borders Code, the European community made this decision in light of the fact that there are many Romanian ethnics living in countries which are not EU members but have relatives or economic cross-border relations or study in countries not included in the EU. The declaration adopted by the Council says that the new regime will favor the situation when borders are not an obstacle in performing trade, social or cultural exchanges. The citizens regarded by the regulation will receive papers valid for a period of 1-5 years, on the basis of which they will be able to visit localities nearby the border. The card must have the photo of the owner and identification information (name, date of birth, citizenship and permanent residence). In case the holder of the card exceeds the limit of the border zone, he can be punished according to the laws. Romania will be on the second place, after Poland as regards the length of the external land border of the European Union. After integration, without this agreement, many Romanians settled in Serbia, Ukraine and Moldova would be forced to request visas to enter Romania.