News - Armenia deputy FM: There has been considerable regress regarding visa facilitation with EU

There has been a considerable regress in the matter of facilitation of the visa regime with the European Union (EU). This was stated Friday by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paruyr Hovhannisyan, during the discussions of the report on the progress and results of the 2023 implementation of the 2021-2026 program of the Armenian government at the Standing Committee on European Integration of the National Assembly. "Unfortunately, there is one domain, one problem in which the desired result was not achieved. The work with the EU was unprecedentedly intensive and progress was made in all directions. But in one matter, both in the relations with the EU and individual members of the Union, the situation is far from being positive. This is the visa issue," Hovhannisyan said. According to him, work has been done in this regard at all levels, but it cannot be said that progress has been made. "On the contrary, a considerable regress has been recorded; even for [Armenia’s] students traveling [to Europe] with the Erasmus program—although it is expected that they should not have problems. It’s also about some [Armenian] officials. In addition, we receive many complaints from [Armenian] citizens," added the deputy FM.