Romanians only have to wait for several more weeks before they can travel freely to Europe.
Following the European Union procedures, the political decision made by EU Interior and Justice ministers to lift the compulsory visas for Romanian citizens will not be enforced as of January 1, 2002 but most likely starting with January 22.
The president of the foreign policy Commission within the Chamber of Deputies Radu Podgoreanu told Ziarul Financiar about the steps to follow until the EU representatives’ decision is applied.
According to the Social Democrat Party deputy, there will be another important moment on December 14, when the decision made by the Interior and Justice ministers is validated by the EU Council. Consequently, the decision will have to be published by the European Union Official Gazette.
The decision to lift visas for Romanians was reached without any obstacles, although Austria was still reserved on the eve of the meeting and suggested a monitoring system to oversee the evolution of the number of illegal immigrants originating from Romania.
However, the Belgian chair of the European Union insisted that Romania had been monitored enough.
Starting with next January, Romanians will be able to travel freely across Europe, provided they can prove they have enough money to support themselves during the trip. They also have to hold medical insurance and a two-way ticket or a green card.
The EU decision comes after one year of close surveillance of the Romanian situation. On December 1, 2000, EU ministers decided to put Romania and Bulgaria on the positive list of countries that did not need visas to travel to the Schengen space.
However, Romania’s presence on that list was merely formal, as a footnote said that Romanians would still need visas until the ministers decided to eliminate them.
EU ministers had decided to maintain the visa regime for Romanians, until Bucharest authorities were able to prove they met the criteria pertaining to security of borders and travel documents and until they took steps to avoid an increase in the number of illegal immigrants originating from Romania.