The EU member states gave the green light for the talks in July 2024 amid the Armenian government’s efforts to move closer to the West and its growing tensions with Russia. Their first round took place in Yerevan in September 2024.
More than a year later, the government received from Brussels a 74-point plan of actions necessary for visa-free travel with the EU. They mostly relate to travel document security, border and migration management, fight against corruption and organized crime as well as democratic reforms.
The concrete actions include the introduction of new Armenian biometric passports meeting European migration standards. The government has pledged to start issuing them this summer.
“Now it all depends on how quickly we will manage to implement all the reforms outlined in the visa liberalization action plan,” Deputy Interior Minister Armen Ghazarian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Ghazarian declined to say how long the implementation process will take or when Armenians can expect to be able to travel to the Schengen zone comprising virtually all EU member states without a visa.
At the start of the visa liberalization talks, officials at the Armenian Foreign Ministry hoped that the process will be completed within two or three years. Neighboring Georgia needed five years of negotiations to secure a visa-free regime for its citizens. Another ex-Soviet state, Moldova, completed the same process within four years.
EU officials have not given possible dates for visa liberalization for Armenia. A new policy framework for deepening Armenia’s relations the EU signed in Brussels last month does not set any time frames either.
The Strategic Agenda for the EU-Armenia Partnership says instead that the two sides will work together to “significantly reduce the number of unfounded asylum applications lodged by Armenian nationals in EU Member States.” It also commits Yerevan to addressing “the root causes of irregular migration from Armenia” to the 27-nation bloc. EU officials have said in the past that the bloc is in no rush to lift the visa requirements because of a large number of Armenians overstaying their visas and seeking asylum in Europe.
The number of Schengen visa applications in Armenia appears to have risen significantly in recent years as evidenced by much longer waiting lists at European consulates in Yerevan. Armenian nationals planning to travel to EU countries now have to wait for months for their visa appointment.