Romania needs the support of Moldova in ensuring border security so as to quicker join the Schengen Area, the President of the Senate of Romania Mircea Geoana said, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. “It is evident why this is important for Romania as well as for Moldova. We will manage to prove that Romania, with Moldova's support, can protect its Eastern border that is rather long,” Mircea Geoana said. He also said the Romanian authorities encourages cooperation between the customs services, the border police and the state institutions of Moldova and Romania. As to the accusations concerning the granting of Romanian nationality to the Moldovans, Mircea Geoana said all the steps taken by the Romanian authorities are legal. “Those who want to work already work. They include both Romanians and Moldovans. This subject is rather an artificial one and is aimed at motivating the people to be in favor of postponing Romania's accession to the Schengen Area,” said the Romanian official. He added that despite the difficult political situation in Bucharest or a possible change of power after the 2012 parliamentary elections in Romania, the internal political games between the two countries do not and should not affect the Moldovan-Romanian relations. Germany and France blocked Bulgaria and Romania from joining the Schengen visa-free travel zone for security reasons. They reproached the two countries for insufficient progress in fighting corruption and organized crime. Some of the EU member states also accused Romania of offering nationality to potentially large numbers of Moldovans. The Romanian authorities say yet several thousands of Moldovans qualify for citizenship and it is not a case of uncontrolled issuing of Romanian passports.