Romania’s entry into the Schengen area can bring both advantages and disadvantages to Moldova, consider the authors of the study “The impact of Romania’s future joining of the Schengen area on Moldova”, which was presented on November 9, Info-Prim Neo reports. The study, made by the think tank “Expert Grup”, treats Romania’s entry into the Schengen area from political, economic and social angles. One of the authors, Denis Cenusa said that Romania’s entry into the Schengen area will bring advantages to the tour operators and carriers as the border between Romania and Hungary will be removed. However, the conditions of entering Romania will be toughened up and this may lead to the redirection of the tourist flows to countries with comparable offers, but more lenient visa regimes. “As Romania is not the main destination country for the Moldovan migrants, its entry into the Schengen area will not seriously change the situation,” said Denis Cenusa. The study shows that more persons will apply for Romanian nationality as there will appear more possibilities of traveling to the EU. “The fee for a Romanian visa will rise to €35. This fact may have repercussions as not everyone can pay such a sum,” said Denis Cenusa. According to the author, the possible institution of tougher conditions as regards issuing of visas to citizens of third countries will have negative effects. The Moldovan citizens may have feelings of frustration and anxiety and the anti-Romania feelings may intensify. The study was submitted to the parliamentary commission on foreign policy and European integration. Communist MP Grigore Petrenko said Moldova should insist that the visa regime with the EU be liberalized before Romania joins the Schengen area as it will sustain losses otherwise. Eugen Revenco, expert of the Foreign Policy Association, said it is too early to forecast the negative consequences for Moldova as it is not known if Romania will impose strict conditions on visa issuing. The study recommends the Moldovan authorities to monitor the implemented agreements, especially the agreement on small-scale border traffic, and to ensure transparency and exhaustively inform the Moldovans about Romania’s joining of the Schengen area projected for 2012-2013.