Armenia’s EU visa liberalization process outpaces other countries, Deputy FM

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan told members of parliament on Monday that the visa liberalization process with the EU is proceeding at a fast pace for Armenia.

MP Armen Gevorgyan, representing the Armenia faction, asked the deputy foreign minister at the parliamentary committee on European integration affairs whether there is a timeframe for the completion of the process, given the broad public interest in the matter.

“It is currently impossible to specify an exact timeline for visa liberalization. We received the action plan last November, and I believe the first progress report will be published within the next one to two months,” Kostanyan said.

He added that the process is proceeding relatively quickly for Armenia compared to other countries. The deputy minister also emphasized that Armenia is currently the only country with which the European Union is conducting a visa liberalization dialogue.

Kostanyan also outlined the main areas in which Armenia needs to implement reforms: migration policy, protection of human rights, and the introduction of an integrated border control system.

Referring to the Schengen visa issuance process, he noted that in recent years the number of applications has increased significantly—by approximately 400 percent—which has also affected service delivery.

“In the past few months, we have seen at least a somewhat positive trend from various European embassies, which have increased their consular staff,” he said.

Kostanyan added that efforts are underway to extend visa issuance periods so that citizens are not forced to apply for a new visa frequently. According to him, some countries have already begun issuing visas with longer validity periods.

“The next area we are working on to simplify this process is the opening of consular sections within the embassies of European Union member states in Armenia. There are countries that have diplomatic representation in Armenia but do not provide consular services.

The latest development is that the Belgian embassy has decided to open a consular section, which will also help alleviate the existing workload to some extent,” Kostanyan concluded.