Financiarul

State sectary for strategic affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, who is on a North-American working tour, has discussed with Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, on the possibility of lifting visas on Romanian citizens who travel to this country, the Romanian ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) informs.

According to MAE, Bogdan Aurescu presented the official in Ottawa the progress reported by Romania in fulfilling the technical criteria stipulated by the Canadian legislation. He emphasized the importance of ensuring as soon as possible equal treatment for all European citizens and voiced the Romanian side’s readiness to closely cooperate with competent Canadian authorities with a view to meeting this goal.

Jason Kenney praised the progress and cooperation with the Romanian authorities on this issue, stressing the temporal connection between the decision on the lifting of visas and the ongoing internal process of amendment of the legal framework in the sector of immigration and asylum, scheduled to be completed in the first half of next year.

The two officials agreed to continue tight cooperation on this issue. Also tackled at the Romanian side’s initiative was the possibility of a joint Romanian-Canadian project in the field of protection of refugees, starting from the major expertise of the Romanian side related to the Timisoara-based Emergency Transit Centre for Refugees, the first of this type in the world.