CHISINAU (Moldova), October 10 (SeeNews) – The European Union said on Wednesday it signed an agreement with Moldova relaxing Schengen visa regulations for its citizens.
"Visa facilitation is an important step in establishing closer people-to-people contacts between the citizens of Moldova and the European Union - now travelling to the EU will be quicker, faster, easier for the people in Moldova," EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.
A Schengen visa enables a national of a country outside the EU to travel freely in 13 of the 15 old EU member states plus Iceland and Norway, which are not part of the union.
The agreement, to come into force on January 1, 2008 at the latest , lowers visa fees to 35 euro from 60 euro and introduces free visas for certain groups of applicants. For businessmen, journalists and students the visa application documents are simplified.
"The signature of the agreements demonstrates the European Union's commitment to facilitating the mobility of persons between Moldova and the European Union while striving at the same time to a better management of illegal migration flows," the European Commission Vice President Franco Frattini said in the same statement.
One of the problems that Moldovans face in obtaining a Schengen visa is that they have to travel to neighbouring countries to do so as only two Schengen member states have consulates in Moldova. In April the EU opened its first visa application centre in Moldova. There Moldovan citizens could apply for visas for Hungary, Austria, Slovenia and Latvia. The list is expected to be extended to include Estonia and Denmark.