CE Foreign Relations Council to consider results of dialogue on visa liberalization with Armenia

ArmInfo. The CE Foreign  Relations Council today, July 22, will consider the conclusions on  the dialogue on visa liberalization with Armenia. The corresponding  announcement of the agenda was published on the website of the  European Commission.

In addition, the Council's decision on assistance measures within the  European Peace Fund to support the Armed Forces of Armenia will be  considered. In total, there are 33 issues on the meeting agenda  covering different regions of the world.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National  Assembly of Armenia on European Integration, Arman Yegoyan, announced  that these issues would be included in the Council's agenda.  Let us  add that last week it became known that the European Council approved  the European 

Commission's proposal to begin negotiations around the liberalization  of the visa regime with Armenia.

Let us recall that the Agreement on Simplification of Visa Issuance  Procedures was signed in December 2012, and the Readmission Agreement  between Armenia and the European Union in April 2013. Both agreements  entered into force simultaneously on January 1, 2015. The UK, Ireland  and Denmark are not part of the agreement. In accordance with the  agreement on visa facilitation, citizens of Armenia enjoy simplified  procedures for obtaining entry visas to the Schengen area. This is  meant for a number of categories of Armenian citizens, in particular,  members of official delegations, scientists, students, journalists,  sports and cultural figures, close relatives of those legally  residing in EU countries, participants in events organized by the  Armenian diaspora structures operating in the EU, and others. Tariffs  for an entry visa to the Schengen zone were lowered from 60 euros to  35 euros. In addition, this visa is provided free of charge to a  number of categories of citizens, including children and pensioners.  In addition, this agreement allows citizens of Armenia to visit EU  countries on short-term visas for a period of 180 days instead of the  previous 90. In accordance with the agreement on visa facilitation,  citizens of Armenia enjoy simplified procedures for obtaining entry  visas to the Schengen area.

Let us also note that despite the fact that Armenia has fully  complied with the first stage of the agreement, the EU, for various  reasons, is delaying the launch of the second stage, at the start of  the dialogue on visa liberalization.