Citizenship strategy being developed as requirements for visa  liberalization between Armenia and EU - official 

ArmInfo. Armenia faces issues related to citizenship. Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen  Ghazaryan stated this at a joint session of the National Assembly committees on June 9.

According to him, work is currently underway to develop a citizenship  strategy, which is one of the requirements of the visa liberalization  program between Armenia and the European Union. Specifically, plans  are underway to clarify the citizenship granting procedure, as the  current system is fraught with a number of difficulties. This  includes, for example, clarifying the residency requirement for  citizenship and establishing a system of respect for citizenship,  which should become one of the key state institutions. It is crucial  to create conditions for verifying residency requirements. Armen  Ghazaryan emphasized that the current attitude toward this  institution is rather casual and lukewarm. Meanwhile, citizenship  carries elements of rights and obligations. The country's  Constitutional Court has already issued a corresponding ruling on  this issue, emphasizing the need, in addition to rights and  obligations, to also consider one's responsibility toward one's own  state. For this reason, work is underway to develop not only a  strategy but also a package of legislative reforms that will be  submitted to the country's parliament.

In this context, the Deputy Minister emphasized the importance of  introducing new biometric passports and identification cards. The  current system does not meet the requirements of the International  Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and for this reason, the process  of introducing the new documents is in its final stages. This process  is being carried out through a public-private partnership. A year was  allocated to prepare the tender for the selection of a contractor,  which made it possible to attract an internationally recognized,  qualified company.

Armen Kazaryan also reported on the preparation of documents for a  tender to select a contractor to implement a "transition consultant"  system, which will be tasked with institutionally addressing the  issue of CCTV cameras and other equipment needed to prevent and solve  crimes and resolve traffic issues. He noted that this issue should be  considered not simply in the context of installing CCTV cameras, but  rather as a completely new infrastructure. The tender will result in  the selection of a qualified consultant who will address this issue.