Poland’s Ambassador to Armenia Jerzy Novakovski addressed the EU Eastern Partnership summit held in Riga late in this month. To the question of what the EaEU member Armenia can expect if even the EU-member Georgia and Ukraine do not get free visa regime, the Ambassador responded, “To be honest, it’s a process that depends on many factors, each country is presented a list of requirements, if given partner or the country meets those requirements, then using the visa-free regime is possible. You mentioned the example of Georgia and Ukraine, but there is also the example of Moldova, where the free visa regime is already in use.” In his words, the free visa regime is a complex and long-run process. “To facilitate the process of granting visas – it does not depend on the Eastern Partnership program, they are simultaneous processes, where the countries can constitute a part.” As for Armenia, Mr. Novakovski said, “I am hopeful that Armenia will achieve a close cooperation with the European Union in the Riga summit. We are definitely the apologists who are in favor of Armenia to have close relations with the European Union within a short period of time. Of course, Armenia’s joining the Eurasian Union cannot facilitate the process, because, when it comes to economy, the membership in itself complicates the implementation of these reforms for Armenia.”
Arpine SIMONYAN
