European Commission finds out that Moldova continues to meet criteria for free visa regime with EU

Chisinau, 20 December /MOLDPRES/ - The European Commission on Mechanism of Visa Regime Suspension today published the first annual report, which assesses, comprehensively and in detail, the level of implementation of the conditions related to the free visa regime with the European Union for the countries of the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership, the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry’s (MAEIE) public diplomacy, strategic communication and media interaction service has reported.

The report shows that Moldova continues to meet the criteria which stayed at the basis of the liberalization of the visa regime with EU and includes a string of recommendations for strengthening Moldova’s policies, especially in the prevention and fighting corruption and money laundering.

MAEIE highly appreciates the European Commission’s evaluation, which confirms by deeds and statistics the mark of efficient implementation of the free visa regime with Moldova, given at political level, at the Eastern Partnership Summit from 24 November 2017.  

At the same time, MAEIE reiterates the national authorities’ willingness to further cooperate with the European Commission, in order to enforce the recommendations submitted, taking into account that these recommendations, to a great extent, are already contained in the Moldova – EU Association Agenda for 2017-2019.  

The free visa travels have significantly facilitated the inter-human relations and helped additionally consolidate the business, social and cultural relations between Moldova and the European Union. By the end of this first year, as many as 241,415 Moldovans holding biometric passports travelled to the Schengen area, by the end of the second year -577,058, by the end of the third year -982,764 and by 10 December 2017 – 1,328,083. At the same time, according to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), about 0.3 percent of cases of refusing entries and 0.5 per cent of illegal stay were recorded. Thus, Moldovan citizens have had and continue to have a responsible attitude towards this freedom. The possibility to travel without visas is open for those 2,059,358 holders of biometric passports, including for the ones from the Transnistrian region (144,128).