Victor Chirila, Moldova’s Ambassador to Bucharest, says that the lack of a larger office for Romania’s National Citizenship Authority, an insufficient number of staff, and backlogs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic are seriously slowing down the process of regaining Romanian citizenship.
He explained:
“Backlogs piled up during the COVID pandemic. Although processing has sped up, some cases still raise issues and take a long time to resolve. The magistrates at the National Citizenship Authority are few in number. I have visited their office multiple times; I helped initiate and sign memoranda of cooperation with Chisinau’s Public Services Agency. They signed them. Our cooperation has become much stronger and more intense compared to four years ago. We have resolved many obstacles, but we still need a much larger headquarters. Some files literally sit in the hallways because of limited space.”
During the June 13 edition of Realitatea Te Priveste on RLive TV, the ambassador praised the Authority’s leadership and staff, saying they are highly dedicated and eager to help citizens.
He added:
“I have maintained excellent relations with both the former and current heads of the Authority. They are committed to speeding up the process of regaining citizenship for Moldovan citizens. Over 1.3 million Moldovans have already regained Romanian citizenship. I can assure you they work hard and want to help us. However, we still need more staff and a modern facility.”
Ambassador Chirila concluded that while progress has been made, allocating a larger modern office and additional personnel would significantly improve the process.