Moldovans travel without visas to European Union during two years

Chisinau, 28 April /MOLDPRES/- The European Union abolished the requirement on short-stay visa for travelers to the Schengen area for Moldovans, biometric passport holders, as a result of a long and complex process on 28 April 2014, the Foreign and European Integration Ministry’s communication and media relations service has reported.
The visa-free regime with the EU represents for Moldovans one of the most tangible benefits of the European integration.
A number of 577,058 Moldovans, biometric passport holders, travelled to the Schengen area by 1,400,122 times during two years. At the same time, according to the European Agency for Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the EU member states (Frontex), about 0.3 per cent of refusals of entry and 0.5 per cent of cases of illegal stay were recorded. This proves the responsible attitude of Moldovans towards freedom of movement.
The opportunity to travel without visas is opened for all those 1,482,810 biometric passport holders, including for those from the left bank of the Dniestre (98,213).
The option to travel without visas significantly increased facilitation of contacts between people, and will continue strengthening the business relations, as well as the social and cultural dialogue between the EU and Moldova.
Being the first, and at this stage the only country within the Eastern Partnership benefitting from a visa-free regime with EU, Moldova shared its experience of implementing the action plan on visa-free regime with Georgia and Ukraine.
 
(Editor M. Jantovan)