Naira Badalyan. Armenia establishes a visa-free regime for citizens of Canada, Lebanon, Turkmenistan and Albania. The corresponding draft decision is included in the agenda of the meeting of the Armenian government on June 28.

As stated in the certificate of substantiation to the document, Albania has been exempt from the mandatory visa requirement for entry into the Schengen zone since 2010. At the same time, Albania established a visa- free regime for the citizens of Armenia in 2013. The agreement on the establishment of a visa-free regime for Turkmen citizens was reached as far back as 2017 in the framework of the official visit of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. Lebanon, in turn, is the country with the largest Diaspora in the Middle East. Since 2013, countries have established a visa-free regime for holders of diplomatic, special and service passports from Yerevan and Beirut. As for Canada, as noted in the document, the relations between Yerevan and Ottawa are friendly. Canada at the level of federal legislative and executive authorities officially recognized the Armenian Genocide.

Citizens of these countries are exempt from the need to obtain visas for a period of stay in Armenia for up to 180 days for 12 months, which will help to strengthen ties between countries and increase the tourist flow. The resolution extends to legal relations that arose after July 10, 2018.