EU report highlights Armenia’s progress on visa liberalization benchmarks

The European Commission has highly praised Armenia’s progress in implementing the Visa Liberalization Action Plan.

The first progress report on Armenia’s implementation of the Visa Liberalization Action Plan was formally handed to Armenia during the first Armenia–EU summit in Yerevan on Tuesday.

The report, according to the Armenian authorities, notes the clear political commitment of Armenia to implement the necessary reforms aimed at visa liberalization with the EU.

“The Armenian authorities have demonstrated strong political commitment to implementing the reforms envisaged under the Visa Liberalization Action Plan. Despite the fact that the VLAP was only recently handed over to Armenia, many reforms have already been initiated or are being planned by the Armenian authorities,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs quoted a part of the report as saying.

Analyzing all the steps taken by Armenia under the first set of benchmarks of the Action Plan (legislation and policy framework), the European Commission concluded that Armenia is at an “advanced stage of fulfilment” in the areas of document security, borders, migration management, and asylum, and has made “good progress” in the areas of public security and fundamental rights.