Armenia has made significant progress in several areas: second EU visa liberalisation assessment mission visits country

The EU’s second mission to assess implementation of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan is in Armenia as part of the Armenia–EU visa liberalisation dialogue.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Deputy Minister Armen Ghazaryan met representatives of the mission on 6 October.

“Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the EU Delegation and EU institutions, including Frontex, attended the meeting, alongside experts from EU member states and representatives of partner agencies,” the statement said.

During the meeting, Ghazaryan said the ministry continued to advance implementation of the Action Plan under the coordination of Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan, Armenia’s chief negotiator on visa liberalisation with the EU, working closely with all relevant government stakeholders.

“Armen Ghazaryan presented Armenia’s work within the visa liberalisation process, stressing that Armenia has a clear political commitment and is consistently working to meet the requirements set out in the Action Plan. He noted that Armenia had already made significant progress in several areas and that important legislative processes were expected to be completed in the near future,” the ministry’s statement said.

The ministry said Ghazaryan also stressed that legislative reforms must be accompanied by effective implementation. In this context, he discussed the biometric system, noting that it was expected to become operational soon.

The meeting addressed progress on several measures envisaged under the Action Plan, including permanent residence requirements under the proposed new citizenship law, the management and monitoring of migration flows, and integrated border management and control.

“Members of the mission emphasised the importance of constructive partnership with Armenia and assessing progress in meeting the Action Plan’s benchmarks concerning the legislative and sectoral policy framework. They stressed that the meeting aimed to discuss challenges in the process, clarify questions and outline the next steps through open and constructive dialogue,” the ministry said.

It added that the Armenian side had reaffirmed its commitment to fulfilling its obligations under the Action Plan within the specified timeframe, while also taking account of the time required for the relevant legislative processes in the EU.

The ministry said members of the EU assessment mission also met the senior management of the Migration and Citizenship Service on the same day.

The service’s head, Nelli Davtyan, said it was undertaking comprehensive and sustained work to implement the Armenia–EU Visa Liberalisation Action Plan.

“She presented the relevant areas of the Action Plan, addressing sectoral policy, legal regulations, new documents being developed, the introduction of the biometric system, the protection of data and legal identity, integrated border management and asylum procedures, as well as other components of the migration management chain. An active and substantive discussion took place during the meeting,” the ministry said.

It added that, accompanied by Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Armen Ghazaryan and HayPass CEO Régis Bauchiere, members of the EU assessment mission also visited the headquarters of HayPass CJSC, established by a consortium of the French company IN Groupe and A.C.I. Technology S.à.r.l. There, they were introduced to the company’s equipment and technical resources, as well as the complete document production process.

Mechanisms for ensuring document security, protecting data and overseeing the production process were also presented.