Visa regime between Moldova and EU might be liberalized in 18 months

Moldova in October will enter the operational phase of the talks on the liberalization of the visa regime with the EU. This means that this regime could be instituted in 18-20 months, Prime Minister Vlad Filat said in the program “Good Evening” on Moldova 1 channel on Thursday evening, Info-Prim Neo reports. “From the moment we have the plan of action or the road map, we will need 18 months to obtain this visa-free regime. It is a feasible period for us given the pace at which we moved until now,” the Premier said. Vlad Filat also said that in Brussels he discussed with the Presidents of the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament and other officials and heads of state. All they assured they will provide support in the liberalization of the visa regime as well as financial support. In the same program, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration and Deputy Prime Minister Iurie Leanca said the Government of Moldova pledged in front of the European partners that Moldova will have European prospects. “That's why we made progress and have this relation of friendship with the EU. We managed to gain credibility and engage the EU in a wide dialog, including on the liberalization of the visa regime. The discussions we had with heads of state and government showed we indeed will enter the operational phase in autumn,” he said. The second fact-finding mission of the EU within the talks on the liberalization of the visa regime that were opened in Luxemburg on June 15 had been in Moldova during September 13-16. The mission assessed the steps taken by the Moldovan authorities to maintain public order and security. The European Commission is to produce a report and enumerate the criteria for liberalizing the visa regime. It will allow Moldova to shift to the operational phase of the dialogue, where steps will be taken to obtain the visa-free regime.