The government of Armenia, under the lead of the Deputy Prime Minister, Mher Grigoryan, has held its first working group meeting for visa liberalisation with the European Union.
During their meeting, the authorities discussed steps that Armenia needs to take in order to reach a visa-free travel agreement with the bloc, Schengen.News reports.
The working group is responsible for coordinating actions and commitments regarding visa liberalisation with the EU. However, as explained by Business Media, the authorities did not share what exactly was talked about during this first meeting of the working group.
The visa liberalisation agreement with the EU is very important for Armenia. Currently, all its passport holders need to hold a valid Schengen visa in order to be permitted entry into the bloc.
If a visa liberalisation agreement is reached, the case will no longer be the same. Under the visa liberalisation agreement, Armenians will be able to travel to the EU visa-free for short stays.
This means that as soon as the agreement is reached, Armenians will be given the right to travel to the bloc without undergoing the Schengen visa application process, provided that their stay does not exceed 90 days within any 180-day period.
As for Armenians who want to stay within the territory of the EU for more than three months, even after the visa liberalisation agreement is reached, they will need to obtain a long-term visa.
EU & Armenia Launched Visa Liberalisation Dialogue at Political Level in September
Earlier in September of this year, the EU and Armenia launched the visa liberalisation dialogue at the political level.
Back then, the EU authorities said that the beginning of this dialogue indicated that the member states of the bloc were ready to deepen their relationship with Armenia.
At the same time, the EU bodies said that Armenia has still to meet some requirements before being added to the list of countries whose citizens are permitted visa-free entry to the EU.
One of the concerns of the EU is the possible increase of irregular migration from Armenia to the member states once the visa liberalisation agreement is reached. However, Armenia has assured that this will not happen.
The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, said just recently that his country has taken all the necessary measures regarding this matter and that there is no need for such concerns. At the same time, he stressed that Armenians have no desire to leave their country.
Source: https://schengen.news/armenia-holds-first-working-group-meeting-on-visa-liberalisation-with-eu/
