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8 June 2009 
The European Union is soon to adopt the first decision on the cancellation of the visa regime for some countries of the South Eastern Europe. A representative of the future Swedish EU Presidency, Henrik Amberg, made the above statement at the meeting of the heads of state and government from the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) member countries, held in Chisinau. "This fact is a confirmation of EU's commitments for the European integration process, which would also include the countries from the South Eastern Europe. This is good news for the countries which will soon benefit from a free visa regime to the EU, as well as for the states which will later enjoy a free visa regime," the Swedish official said, without making specifications. Henrik Amberg also said that the regional cooperation is of vital importance for the SEECP countries getting closer to the European Union. Amberg said that, while holding the EU Presidency in the second half of 2009, Sweden will organise a conference on regional cooperation, during which the participants will discuss subjects on infrastructure and energy. A representative of the current Czech EU Presidency, Petr Kypr, has said “The EU is committed to the liberalization of short-term visas for the citizens of all Western Balkan countries as a part of the Thessaloniki agenda. The visa dialogue is to be a merit-based process. With Moldova we are successfully implementing the Visa Facilitation Agreement, and we see the opportunity to discuss the further liberalization within the framework of the new agreement EU-Moldova”. Kypr thanked Moldova for having successfully held the SEECP chairmanship and the organisation of the forum at a high level. For his part, the head of the European Commission's Delegation in Chisinau, Cesare de Montis, said that the European Union wants to consolidate its relations with Moldova, stressing that there are good chances to make progress in this respect till late 2009.
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