On June 14, the third session of the joint committee on the implementation of the Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union on visa facilitation was held in Yerevan.
Garen Nazarian, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, and Piotr Switalski, Head of EU Delegation to Armenia, welcomed the participants of the session. In his remarks, Deputy FM Nazarian stressed that along with the challenges the EU faces in the areas of management of migration flows and security, the ways should be found to maintain the joint commitment for mobility and people-to-people contacts. The Deputy Foreign Minister also noted that Armenia approached the implementation of both Armenia – EU Visa Facilitation and Readmission agreements with great responsibility, expressing hope that the successful implementation of these agreements will result in the launch of a dialogue on visa liberalization with Armenia, enshrined in the joint statement of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga.
During the meeting, the sides touched upon a range of practical issues related to the implementation of the Agreement. The EU side outlined the increase of the EU visa applications by the Armenian citizens in recent years. The importance of raising public awareness was mutually emphasized.
In parallel with the session of the joint committee session on the implementation of “Agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union on visa facilitation” a session of the joint committee on “EU-Armenia Agreement on Readmission of Persons residing without Authorisation” was held.
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The aforementioned sessions were chaired by Vladimir Karmirshalyan, Head of the MFA Consular Department, and Gagik Yeganyan, Head of State Migration Service at Territorial Administration and Development Ministry, from the Armenian side, and Didrik Palman, Deputy Head of Visa Policy Department of Migration and Home Affairs Directorate General (DG), and Dan Rotenberg, Head of Irregular Migration and Return Policy Division, from the EU side.
Information: The creation of joint committees on visa facilitation and readmission issues was aimed at monitoring the Agreements provisions, making amendments or addendums to the Agreements, as well as discussing other issues related to the enactment of the Agreements. The first sessions of the committee were held in September, 2014, in Yerevan.