PM Ponta: Romania to call for visa lifting for Ukraine as soon as possible

Prime Minister Victor Ponta said on Thursday that Romania will call for visa lifting for the Ukrainian citizens "as soon as possible".

"Romania calls for lifting of visas for Ukraine as soon as possible, as it was achieved in the case of [Republic of] Moldova. ... I believe that this decision should be taken at EU level for the Ukrainian citizens," Ponta told a joint press conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca.

Ponta described the three-party meeting in Kiev between the Romanian, Ukrainian and Moldovan prime ministers as a historic one.

"I thank for the invitation to be today in Kiev in a historic formula because there has been no visit of a Romanian prime minister to Kiev over the past twenty years and for sure no meeting between the three prime ministers. If someone had asked me until now to describe the relations between Romania and Ukraine, I could have said only neighbours. I wish that as of today, we can say also friends, not only neighbours," the Romanian premier said.AGERPRES