Peter Stano, the European Commission’s lead spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, told Armenia’s state-run Armenpress news agency that “this means we will start the process to see whether it’s feasible, whether it’s possible.”
Stano said that “visa liberalization is something that is very important because it’s tangible and visible for people.”
“There are also tasks to be fulfilled on the side of the partner country, in this case of Armenia,” he said. “In general, for visa liberalization, there are technical requirements that means biometric passports, for example, but also political requirements to make sure that the political framework in the country prevents people from misusing the asylum system. First of all, that people are not forced to leave the country and claim asylum.”
Stano emphasized that they do not want to have a sudden increase in asylum seekers and want to prevent the misuse of the visa-free or liberalized travel regime.
He said that “if everything goes well, the process might bring a lot of benefits for the Armenian citizens.”
The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council on November 13 gave the green light to the European Commission to explore options for visa liberalization with Armenia.
The European Commission is to come up with a specific decision subject to ratification by all members of the 27-nation bloc.
Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovannisian said earlier this week that Yerevan considered it possible that negotiations on visa liberalization with the European Union would commence “in the coming months.”
He said he considered it positive that no EU member state had opposed the start of the process.
“It was difficult to ensure that consensus among all countries, but it was a very positive development,” the senior Armenian diplomat said.
“We will continue to actively work with the European Union and its member states to speed up that process as much as possible,” he added.
Back in 2016, the head of the European Union delegation to Armenia announced that Yerevan and Brussels would achieve visa liberalization in the near future. It is also provided for under the Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Agreement that Armenia signed with the EU in 2017. However, no significant progress has been made in terms of visa liberalization for Armenia since then.