ArmInfo. Armenia has its own expectations regarding the timing of the start of the dialogue between Armenia and the EU on the liberalization of the visa regime. Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan said this in an interview with ArmNews.
According to his assessment, Yerevan successfully and effectively fulfills its obligations under the agreements on visa facilitation and readmission, and insists that the time has come for the start of the second stage – the start of a dialogue on visa liberalization. However, according to him, there are indirect reasons, not connected with Armenia, which are slowing down this process, in particular migration flows to Europe and the attitude of the European population to this. "But, we continue to insist that it is necessary to take a differentiated approach, and in the decision-making process about the beginning of a dialogue, do not proceed from reasons that are not directly related to Armenia. We are convinced of the need to start a dialogue as soon as possible and continue to insist on it, however, discussions on this issue should be discussed in a number of European structures, "the Armenian Foreign Minister emphasized.
Touching upon the process of ratification of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) Mnatsakanyan assured that he did not see any preconditions for deliberately delaying the ratification process with political or other implications. According to him, the ratification process depends on the peculiarities of the legislation of each of the EU member states, and somewhere this process takes place more quickly, and somewhere it does not. At the same time, he pointed out the importance of this document from the point of view of the development of relations between Armenia and the EU. Mnatsakanyan stated that CEPA is a multifaceted and comprehensive document covering almost all sectors of life, and which will allow to bring cooperation to a new level. He also expressed the conviction that a roadmap of cooperation would be approved in June of this year.