Mayor of Iasi to Suspend Twinning with Chisinau over Ceban’s Schengen Entry Ban

The Mayor of Iasi, Mihai Chirica, is initiating the procedure to suspend twinning partnership between Iasi and Chisinau due to the fact that Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban has been banned from entering the Schengen Area. “For me, as a mayor, this is a significant and painful pause because we are talking about two major cities – Iasi and Chisinau, the capital. However, there are certain restrictions related to the way communication can take place,” said Chirica, as quoted by tvrmoldova.md. “For example, such sister-city partnerships are only possible when I can directly travel to Edinet, and Edinet can come directly to me. But with Chisinau, the situation is very serious. According to this cooperation agreement, which is part of the sister-city relations, the mayor of Chisinau cannot come to Iasi. This is a major issue. The problem is related to the suspension of embassies.” “The law that underpins the cooperation agreements between cities in Romania and those in the Republic of Moldova explicitly provides for the possibility of direct visits and bilateral cooperation. At the moment, as an EU member state, we are faced with the fact that Mr. Ceban is unable to travel to Romania. I will be forced to initiate the procedure to suspend the sister-city partnership until the restrictions on his entry into the Schengen Area are lifted,” Chirica added.