ArmInfo. Artsakh citizens are facing increasing difficulties in obtaining Schengen visas, as stated by Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan at a press conference in Yerevan on August 30.
According to him, the problem has become relevant since March-April of this year. "There are embassies that issue visas without any problems, such as the French embassy. No refusals have occurred due to the presence of the 070 code in the passport. Some embassies use a differentiated approach. For instance, I am aware of a case when the same person was refused at the German embassy. Additionally, there are embassies that do not issue visas at all. Specifically, I would like to highlight Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Poland," the human rights defender stated. According to Stepanyan, the reason for the refusal of visas for citizens of Artsakh is the presence of the code 070 in their passports. The ombudsman noted that the official statements received from the embassies say that their decisions are based on statements by the Armenian authorities and they do not have the tools to verify if passports with the code 070 indicate Armenian citizenship.
"Therefore, as explained by these embassies, they cannot accept a visa application from a person. After these cases, discussions were held with representatives of European embassies. I was then informed that a decision had been made to grant visas. Various sources, including those from Brussels, assured that visas would be issued. However, applications with the code 070 are not even taken into consideration," Stepanyan said, adding that such situations did not occur in the case of the American Embassy. At the same time, he criticized the Armenian Foreign Ministry, expressing his belief that this was a result of negligence on their part. Earlier it became known that several European countries do not grant visas to citizens of Artsakh. Additionally, there have been cases where Artsakh residents were denied departure from Yerevan's Zvartnots airport due to their Artsakh passports, even though they possessed refugee certificates.