On April 28, it was ten years since the visa regime with the European Union was liberalized. During these ten years, the Schengen area was visited without a visa by 2,156,882 citizens of the Republic of Moldova, who made 31,248,082 trips, i.e. over 15 trips on average per person during ten years. At the same time, the Moldovans saved at least €270 million, which they would have spent on visas, IPN reports, quoting a joint IPRE and IPIS post on Facebook.
The message of the Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gerasimov, conveyed on this occasion, is also full of optimism: “A generation has grown up in Moldova that no longer knows what “visa to the EU” means. And this has brought enormous benefits to our country and citizens. Reunited families, the chance to study in European universities and carry out joint projects, more friends and more commercial exchanges, and simply the opportunity to discover how big, beautiful and diverse the world is – all thanks to the freedom to travel.”
On the occasion of ten years since the liberalization of the visa regime, President Maia Sandu said that “the Moldovans are Europeans and deserve to live freely, travel where they want, work where they want, like all the European citizens. It is essential to become an EU member state not only for the free movement, but also peace, welfare and democracy to remain guaranteed.”
Prime Minister Dorin Recean noted that since 2014, more than 30 million crossings have been made “for reunions with the loved ones, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, for business, studies, travel and to be free.”
For his part, Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu pointed out that ten years ago, the Moldovans, started to travel freely, without visas. “I remember that first visa-free flight to Athens – a historic moment. Now it is important to value this freedom and continue to talk about the benefits of being part of the big European family,” said the Speaker.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Moldova during the ten years has ensured continuity in carrying out reforms and meeting the requirements that underlay the liberalization of the visa regime, as well as the implementation of recommendations formulated along the way by the competent European institutions. Thus, the possibility to travel freely in the EU is open to all the holders of Moldovan biometric passports, including those residing in the Transnistrian region.
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