French Ambassador commented on liberalizaton talks with Armenia

ArmInfo. French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decotigny commented on the decision of the EU Council of Foreign Ministers to approve the start of a dialogue with Armenia on visa liberalization.

The ambassador posted the following message on its X account: "The European Union is starting a  dialogue with Armenia on visa liberalization, an important step reflecting the desire of the Armenian people  to Europe. Now the ball is in the court of Armenia, which must meet European standards ".

At the same time, he shared a message from the press service of the European Commission in this regard, which in particular states: "The EU Council welcomes the Commission's intention to begin a dialogue on  visa liberalization with Armenia. The possibility of visa obligations abolition for Armenian citizens will be  considered only after the benchmarks have been fully met."

Meanwhile, a statement on the European Commission website following the Council meeting notes: "The  Council welcomes the Commission's intention to begin a dialogue on visa liberalization with Armenia and to fully involve the Council and member states in every stage of the dialogue, including the definition and assessment of benchmarks. The possible abolition of visa obligations for Armenian citizens will be considered only after the benchmarks have been fully met."

Last week (July 17) it became known that the European Council approved the European Commission's proposal to begin negotiations around visa liberalization with Armenia. Experts find it difficult to say how long these negotiations will last.

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 implied 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. It should be noted 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.