Young people expect appointment of new Interior Minister to take to streets
 2009-09-16/18:15 Young members of the initiative group "Spirit Romanesc" (“Romanian Spirit”) Wednesday protested against the compulsoriness of having a bank account with at least 500 euros in it in order to be issued with Romanian visa. About 25 persons gathered in front of the Romanian Embassy in Chisinau and put fake 500-euro banknotes inside the mailbox, Info-Prim Neo reports.
The protesters demanded that the Emergency Ordinance 194/2002 issued by the Government of Romania be modified. The ordinance says that any non-EU citizen entering Romania must prove that they have a bank account with minimum 500 euros in it. According to them, this normative document prevent the Moldovan people from entertaining Romania and this runs counter to the Romanian authorities' statements that they want more Romanian ethnics from Bessarabia to come and live in Romania.
Sorin Becciu, a member of the initiative group, said that this stipulation will not limit the access of the offenders, but of the poor people. According to him, the organization that he represents wants to that these restrictions for the Moldovan citizens be lifted and that there are established relations of friendship between the two countries.
The former president of the NGO Hyde Park Ghenadie Brega said that similar protests have been staged in Bucharest. “We hope to mobilize the Moldovan young people who are being isolated from their parents by the Romanian authorities. They provide scholarships to Moldovan students, but ban access to their relatives. We want to initiate debates on this issue. We will also discuss the Romanian citizenship granting process, which can last for 14 years in some cases. The law on the European public servant says that an application must be examined within 60 days,” Brega said.
Brega also said that after this subject is discussed over the Internet, it will be brought to the street. According to him, Hyde-Park on September 28 will stage large-scale protests if the new Government is formed and the Ministry of the Interior is appointed. “If Papuc (Gheorghe Papuc, departing Minister of the Interior – e.n.) remains, we will expect because we do not want to be held in police departments and damage our health. We want to be sure that if somebody violates our rights they will be held accountable.”
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