Romanian visas could be issued without bank account of 500 euros

The Romanian authorities will ask the official Brussels to cancel the obligation for the Moldovan citizens to have a bank account of 500 euros for obtaining Romanian visas. The bank account could be replaced with a statement on one's own responsibility showing that the applicant for visa has the necessary sum of money. Related statements were made by Romanian President Traian Basescu during a program on the PRO TV Chisinau channel on January 27 in the evening, Info-Prim Neo reports. At the same time, the Romanian head of state explained that the existence of the bank account of 500 euros is an European condition that Romania must fulfill. “Romania must create equal condition for the Moldovan citizen, for the Ukrainian citizens, for the Pakistani citizens and people from other countries. The annulment of this obligation would mean stimulating an invasion from Ukraine and other countries to the EU via Romania, which charges rather low taxes,” Basescu said. “It is hard to explain to a Moldovan family why they cannot visit the relatives in Romania. But we will solve this problem.” Speaking about the opening of the two Romanian consulates in Balti and Cahul, Traian Basescu said that the consulate in Cahul that he will visit on January 28 could be opened in 2-3 weeks, while that in Balti does not yet have a head office. The Romanian President and Moldova's Premier Vlad Filat considered the possibility of opening more Romanian consulates in Moldova, one possibly in Ungheni. Traian Basescu also said that Romania is ready to share its experience in liberalizing the visa regime with Moldova. He stressed that after the change of power in Moldova, Brussels is disposed to liberalize the visa regime with Moldova, but a lot of work must be done in this respect.