Commencement of Visa Liberalization Dialogue: EU Commissioner Visits Armenia

The visit of European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas to Armenia has officially commenced, aimed at initiating a political dialogue on visa liberalization.

On his microblog, the EU ambassador in Armenia, Vassilis Maragos, shared a photo stating, "I am pleased to welcome European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas to Armenia for negotiations with President Vahagn Khachaturyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan. The goal is to strengthen the Armenia-EU partnership and to start a dialogue on visa regime liberalization.”

The European Commission's statement also noted that the commencement of the political dialogue on visa liberalization with Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan signifies the EU's determination to deepen the already strong partnership between the EU and Armenia.

“As evidenced by the experience of third countries, this dialogue with Armenia will be a long-term process that will be carried out in close cooperation with EU member states to monitor the progress of reforms and developments,” the statement outlined.

Additionally, the European Commission highlighted that the aim of the dialogue is to eliminate the visa requirement for Armenian citizens to stay temporarily in the EU, provided that significant reforms are carried out by the Armenian authorities in areas such as travel document security, borders, migration, asylum management, public order and security, and fundamental rights related to free movement.

On July 17, the EU approved the European Commission's proposal to begin discussions on visa liberalization with Armenia at the ambassadorial level of all member countries.

The decisions to initiate a dialogue on visa liberalization and to assist Armenia from the Peace Fund were made against the backdrop of intensified negotiations between Yerevan and Brussels in recent times.

Visa liberalization is akin to other EU processes; it is a meticulous and largely technocratic process, also political, as the decision must be approved by member states, as EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano noted in an interview with Azatutyun.

This was preceded by statements from authorities, specifically Nikol Pashinyan, indicating Armenia's readiness to approach the European Union as far as Brussels deems possible, followed by Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan's remarks that Armenia is considering the possibility of EU membership.