YEREVAN. - The third session of the joint committee on implementing the agreement between Armenia and EU on the facilitation of the issuance of visas, took place in Yerevan Tuesday.

The session participants were welcomed by the Armenian Deputy FM Garen Nazarian and Head of EU Delegation to Armenia Piotr  Świtalski.

In his speech, Deputy FM Nazarian noted that along with the challenges in the area of migration flow management and security, ways should be found to maintain the joint commitment to mobility and communication between people.

He also noted that Armenia has approached the implementation of Armenia-EU visa facilitation and readmission agreements with great responsibility, expressing hope that the successful implementation of those agreements will result in the launch of dialogue on visa liberalization with Armenia, this being enshrined in the joint statement of the Eastern Partnership’s Riga Summit.

At the meeting, the sides touched on a range of practical issues on the agreement implementation. The EU side noted the growth in the number of EU visa applications by Armenian citizens. Both sides underscored the importance of raising the public awareness.

Along with the aforementioned session, another session of the joint committee on implementing the agreement between EU and Armenia on the readmission of persons residing without authorization took place.  

The aforementioned sessions were presided by Armenian MFA Consular Department Head Vladimir Karmirshalyan and Head of State Migration Service at Territorial Administration and Development Ministry, Gagik Yeganyan, as well as Visa Policy Migration and Home Affairs Directorate General (DG) Didrik Palman and Team Leader of Irregular Migration and Return Policy Division Dan Rotenberg.