The pace of illegal migration that involves Moldovans or the existence of a demand for asylum in the EU confirms that Moldova is far from being stable and attractive for its own citizens, political pundit Dionis Cenusa said in an analysis article for IPN Agency.
But the perpetuation of negative phenomena that involve Moldovans is insufficient for the EU to invoke the visa suspension mechanism, considers the politologist.
He noted that the introduction of a new monitoring and reporting mechanism for the countries that benefit from visa-free travel appeared in reaction to the crisis of illegal migrants and asylum seekers of 2015.
Even if the wave of irregular migration used mainly the Western Balkans as a transit zone to the EU, the visa suspension mechanism reviewed in 2016-2017 includes also the EaP countries that were exempted from Schengen visas – Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia.
Besides extending the circumstances for the suspension of visas, the European side simplified the conditions for re-introducing checks inside the EU. The readjustment of the Schengen Area to the new realities is an initiative that refers to major problems of internal security of the European states that face the challenges of illegal migration and risks of terrorism and other related threats.
However, the visa suspension mechanism is designed not to measure the progress or to penalize the countries with shortcomings, but rather to create a permanent surveillance framework that will enable to increase the sustainability of reforms that are critical for the rule of law.
According to Dionis Cenusa, for Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, this mechanism is an instrument complementary to the Association Agenda, centered on the implementation of the Association Agreement with the EU, which is reviewed once in two years. It is a complementary framework that is aimed at corruption.
Even if it overlaps the Association Agenda in parts, the visa suspension mechanism requests the countries with visa-free regimes to fulfill particular conditions defined in reports published at least once a year. More limited areas are featured, while the major focus in the case of Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine is on the pursuing of anticorruption policies and fighting of organized crime, concluded the expert.
