After the session of the Government the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Shavarsh Kocharyan informed that it is almost impossible for any EU Member State to hinder Armenia-EU agreement ratification. As stated by Kocharyan, if any EU Member State was not interested, it could have hindered until the signing of the agreement and if the EU has signed, this means an ultimate agreement among all Member States was in place. The agreement should be ratified by the National Assembly of Armenia in April, after which, as Kocharyan put it, the European Union should be notified about it. And after the notification, according to the Deputy Minister, there is a chance that certain articles of the agreement will enter into force: “That is, after that, we will receive a confirmation, and separate provisions will start functioning. It will enter into forcefully since the moment when the last State notifies it has finished the ratification. It is natural that there is an interconnection – between the issue of the visa liberation and all other parts.”
Kocharyan finds the temporary application of certain provisions of the agreement after its ratification will make the negotiations towards visa liberation issue easier.
Asked whether there is no concern that the emigration of Armenians will reach huge numbers after the visa liberation, Kocharyan replied: “Visa liberation is closely related with readmission. That is, the European States are interested in the liberation not to lead to abuses. Therefore, they are interconnected issues.”
Nelly BABAYAN
