Two new Romanian consulates will be opened temporarily in Balti and Cahul, in the Moldovan Republic, it was decided at a meeting between Romanian President Traian basescu and his Moldovan counterpart Vladimir Voronin in Chisinau on Tuesday. The decision was made as pressure amounts on authorities in both countries to solve visa-related problems after Romania joined the European Union this year.

The two consulates add to the already existing one in Chisinau, which cannot cope with the huge number of visa applications submitted by Moldovan citizens. The visas were introduced as a compulsory measure after Romania’s accession in the EU.

The Basescu-Voronin meeting comes as bilateral relations have been cooling fast after a peak in early 2005.

Dozens of Moldovan citizens welcomed President Basescu when he arrived at the Moldovan Presidency headquarters earlier today. That comes despite officials in Bucharest and Chisinau are equally blamed for the visa crisis as thousands of people are forced to wait in unending queues to get a visa at the Romanian consulate in the Moldovan capital.