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The visa liberalization dialogue between Armenia and the European Union is a continuous process, and, “it’s not as if we are waiting for a certain point to launch the process”, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters after today’s Cabinet meeting.

Mr Kocharyan pointed to the issue of working with separate EU states, since the general position of the EU is formed based on the individual approaches of its member states, Panorama.am reports. 

“This is the case when that power [of visa liberalization] is not authorized to the EU, and each EU member state can even hinder [that process]. From this perspective, it is important to work with all of them,” the Armenian official stated.

Meantime, Mr Kocharyan said that the concerns of the EU states on visa liberalization stem from the large flow of migrants to Europe, which is the reason behind Europe’s more cautious stance on such matters.

Asked whether the visa liberalization entails setting a visa-free regime between Armenia and the EU, the deputy foreign minister said that Armenia already has a certain visa liberalization with the EU. “It applies to the Armenian citizens of certain categories, for instance experts, scholars, and others,” he said.

“That process will go deeper, the final point of which is lifting the visa regime. We are holding talks at the moment.”