Interior Ministry  discusses Armenia`s EU visa liberalization  obligations 

ArmInfo.On August 12, a regular meeting of the working group was held. The working group was formed to effectively implement the necessary commitments and sectoral processes within the framework of the EU Visa Liberalization Action Plan. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs press  service, the meeting was chaired by Acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan.

The meeting was attended by Acting Deputy Minister of Justice Anna  Karapetyan, Acting Deputy Minister of Finance Edgar Mkrtchyan,  representatives from relevant agencies, and experts. The discussion  focused on the implementation of the recommendations outlined in the  first report of the European Commission on the assessment of progress  in the implementation of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan in  public order and security, external relations, and fundamental human  rights. Armen Ghazaryan noted that the Action Plan is continuing to  be properly implemented under the coordination of the Chief  Negotiator for the EU-Armenia Visa Liberalization Process, and the  Ministry of Internal Affairs is committed to ensuring the full  fulfillment of its objectives. 

It was emphasized that 41 out of 72 measures stemming from the  recommendations of the third and fourth directions have already been  implemented, while work on the remaining 31 is ongoing. Under the  coordination of the Minister of Interior, the primary focus in  executing the Action Plan is placed on establishing the legislative  and strategic framework.

Two evaluation missions from the EU are scheduled to visit Armenia  before the end of the year: in October, an assessment will be  conducted on the progress achieved in the first and second directions  of the Action Plan, followed by an evaluation of the third and fourth  directions in December.

Speaking about the work accomplished, representatives of the Ministry  of Internal Affairs touched upon the crime prevention strategy and  the development of the Action Plan arising from it. It was noted that  draft documents have been developed, and work is underway to further  refine them and adopt the strategy by the end of the year. During the  meeting, the activities identified in the third and fourth directions  of the draft Plan of the Government of Armenia for the implementation  of the Action Plan for the liberalization of the RA-EU visa regime  were also addressed.