A Decade of Visa-Free Travel: Moldovan Travellers Exceed 2 Million Trips to the EU
April 28 marked the tenth anniversary of the visa liberalisation regime between Moldova and the European Union.
A total of 2,156,882 visa-free travel trips were made by Moldovan citizens to EU countries during these ten years, who made 31,248,082 trips on average per person in the past ten years, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
According to the IPN news agency, Moldovans saved at least €270 million, which they would have spent on visas.
For ten years, Moldovan citizens have enjoyed visa-free travel to the EU and Schengen Area with just a biometric passport. This has enriched cultural, economic, and social exchanges, opening new opportunities for students, tourists, and business people.
In this regard, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Cristina Gerasimov said that a generation has grown up in Moldova that no longer knows what a visa to the EU means, which, according to her, has brought huge benefits to Moldova and its citizens.
According to her, thanks to the freedom to travel more Moldovans had the chance to study in European universities and carry out joint projects, and also had the opportunity to discover how big, beautiful and diverse the world is.
Moldovans are Europeans & Deserve to Live Freely, President Says
President Maia Sandu said that the citizens of Moldova are Europeans and deserve to live freely, travel where they want, and work where they want like all citizens of European countries. Sandu highlighted that it is important to become an EU member state not only for free movement but also for peace, welfare and democracy to remain guaranteed.
Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorin Recean highlighted that since 2014, over 30 million crossings have been made for different purposes.
Celebrating ten years of visa-free travel, Parliament Speaker Igor Grosu said that he remembers 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.
According to Moldova’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs these ten years have ensured continuity in meeting the requirements that underlay the liberalisation of the visa-free regime and the implementation of recommendations formulated along the way by relevant European authorities.
Visa regime for Moldovan citizens was liberalised on April 28, 2014, applying new changes to EU Regulation no. 539/2001.
Earlier this year, the Moldovan Public Services Agency (ASP) said that from 2025 citizens of Moldova might be eligible to enter the EU countries by only presenting their IDs.
