The European Commission has highly appreciated Armenia’s progress in implementing the visa liberalization action plan (VLAP), the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

On Tuesday, in the framework of the Armenia-EU Summit, in the presence of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, European Council President Antonio Costa, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, handed the first progress report on VLAP to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Armenia’s chief negotiator on visa liberalization with the EU, Arpine Sargsyan. It records the clear political commitment of the Armenian authorities to implement the necessary reforms aimed at visa liberalization with the EU.

“Armenian authorities have shown a strong political commitment to deliver on the reforms expected under the VLAP. Despite the fact that the VLAP was presented to Armenia only recently, many of the necessary reforms have been initiated or planned by the Armenian authorities,” the report says.

Shortly after the issuance of the VLAP, the government of Armenia, through the coordination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, has already initiated or programmed a significant portion of the required legislative and policy changes, and Armenia's work on document security and migration management is now at an advanced stage of development.

The report details the significant steps taken and progress made by Armenia in the four areas of the VLAP: i) security of travel documents; ii) border, migration and asylum management; iii) public order and security issues; and iv) fundamental rights issues related to the freedom of movement.

Welcoming the positive dynamics, the European Commission stressed that the assessment of progress is carried out exclusively through a results-based approach and is conditioned by the effective and consistent implementation of all benchmarks.

The progress report also presents recommendations designed to assist Armenia in filling the gaps identified.

The Commission will continue to monitor the implementation of all benchmarks set by the VLAP, with the assistance of experts from EU Member States; and for this purpose, additional assessment missions will be organized in Armenia in the near future.

It was also noted that the EU remains committed to supporting Armenia's reform efforts by providing dedicated technical and financial assistance, in particular within the framework of Resilience and Growth Plan for Armenia.

In its conclusion, the European Commission considers that “Armenia has made good progress in the implementation of the benchmarks relevant for the first phase (legislative and policy framework) of the VLAP, considering that the VLAP was officially handed over to Armenian authorities only in November 2025. The first set of benchmarks under block 1(document security, including biometrics) and - within block 2 (on migration management) are already at an advanced stage of fulfilment. Armenia is also progressing well in the implementation of the first set of benchmarks related to the other policy areas covered under block 2 (integrated border management, asylum), block 3 (public order and security) and block 4 (external relations and fundamental rights) in the VLAP.”