EU to Start Visa Liberalization Talks With Armenia

European Union member states on Wednesday gave the green light for the start of official negotiations with Armenia on lifting the EU’s visa requirements for Armenian citizens.

Diplomatic sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the decision was made by their ambassadors in Brussels. It means that the EU’s executive body, the European Commission, should draw up in the coming months an action plan for the “visa liberalization dialogue” with the Armenian government.

“It’s about document security, borders, readmission [of illegal migrants,]” said RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak. “It’s also about fundamental rights issues. It’s like a whole dossier of hundreds of pages that needs to be fulfilled by Armenia, and this will take years.”

Jozwiak stressed that the eventual lifting of EU visas for Armenians will also require the unanimous backing of all EU member states.

“There is a general movement in Europe where people are fearful of irregular migration,” explained. “There are a few countries, notably Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands, that are very, let’s say, cautious about granting visa liberalization to other countries. So this is far from a done deal. There are many hurdles and problems.”

EU leaders first pledged to start visa liberalization talks with Yerevan at their Eastern Partnership summit with Armenia and five other former Soviet republics held 2017. The pledge followed the signing of a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the EU and Armenia. Both the current and former Armenian governments have since pressed the 27-nation bloc to set a date for the talks.

Speaking in 2020, the then head of the EU Delegation in Yerevan, Andrea Wiktorin, said formal discussions on visa-free travel are hampered by the fact that “several” European countries still have concerns about the large number of Armenian asylum seekers on their soil.

The member states’ decision to approve the “visa liberalization dialogue” with the South Caucasus country comes amid the Armenian government’s efforts to move closer to the West and its growing tensions with Russia.

In February this year, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that he and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan have agreed to “launch work on an ambitious new EU-Armenia partnership agenda.” Some members of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s political team have said since then that Armenia should strive to join the EU.