Romania To Consider Lowering Visa Money Requirement For Moldovan Citizens

At the moment, citizens of Moldova must prove they have EUR500 before receiving a visa for Romania. Basescu said the government will consider lowering this amount for citizens of any country, not just Moldova. Also, Romania will explore the possibility of granting Moldovan citizens visas with a longer validity, up to five years, given Romania's future accession to the Schengen area.

Basescu made this statement in a press conference held jointly with Moldova's acting president, Mihai Ghimpu, who is on an official visit of Romania.

Basescu made a short recap of the progress in Romania-Moldova relations since his meeting with Ghimpu in January: the signing of an agreement on small-scale border traffic, the opening of a new border crossing, at Radauti-Lipcani, and five offices of the National Citizenship Agency, as well as a new ambassador to Chisinau, Marius Lazurca.

Basescu called for a meeting of the inter-government Committee for economic cooperation and European integration, to analyze current or future economic, energy and infrastructure projects. Basescu also mentioned his recent discussion with European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, in which he put forward a plan to link Moldova's infrastructure to Romania's, and thus to that of the European Union.

The Romanian president also talked about two of the six treaties with Moldova signed on Tuesday: a strategic partnership between the two states, towards Moldova's eventual accession to the European Union, and an agreement to grant Moldova EUR100 million in aid.

The strategic partnership was signed by the two heads of state. The aid agreement was signed by Romania's Regional Development and Tourism Minister, Elena Udrea, and Moldova's Construction and Regional Development Minister, Marcel Raducan.

Romania's Education Minister, Daniel Funeriu, and his Moldovan counterpart, Leonid Bujor, signed a protocol of collaboration between the two ministries in the 2010-2011 school year.

Environment ministers Laszlo Borbely (Romania) and Gheorghe Salaru (Moldova) signed a memorandum of understanding.

Romania's Labor Minister Mihai Seitan and Moldova's Valentina Buliga signed an agreement on social security.

Romanian Foreign Ministry state secretary Doru Costea and Moldova's Agriculture and Food Industry deputy Minister Vasile Bumacov signed a memorandum of understanding on official development assistance through the implementation of an agricultural program.

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