Past daily of Armenia writes as follows, in particular: Against the backdrop of high-level European meetings, resonant statements about visa liberalization and beautiful phrasing of integration in Yerevan, the real Armenia is living a completely different reality. What is presented on political platforms as progress and an approach to Europe has turned into an endless cycle of queues, closed systems, and uncertainty for an ordinary [Armenian] citizen.

Today, it has become almost impossible to sign up at embassies and visa centers [in Armenia] of a number of European countries. We touched on this topic last year, but over the past 7-8 months, not only has the situation not changed, but everything has become more complicated. People have been trying to register for weeks, sometimes months to “take an hour” [for a visa interview], so to speak, but in vain.

Either the “hours do not open” for days, or when they do open, they run out within seconds, and the intermediary market, as always, is “at the forefront,” turning the process into an additional burden. A situation arises when at the official level there is talk of [EU] visa liberalization [for Armenia], but technically and physically the [Armenian] citizen does not even have the opportunity to apply for a visa.

This is no longer just an inconvenience, but a systemic problem that hits the very people on whose behalf this policy is being presented. The editorial staff of Past, trying to understand the situation from the inside, tried to sign up at several embassies and visa centers [in Armenia] more than once last summer and fall. Absolutely useless.

We have tried to do the same in recent days also (let us add that during this time 1-2 embassies have also delegated this function to visa centers). The result was again the same, which thousands of [Armenian] citizens are facing: again, there are no available “hours” or they are opened for such a short time that registration is almost impossible (details of this mechanism are in our previous publications).

At the same time, according to our information, one of the parliamentary factions has also tried to deal with the same issue, trying to find out and even organize a sign-up through other platforms. However, even at that level, the result has not significantly changed: the system continues to remain closed and overloaded, and the process is almost impassable.

This already poses a serious question: how is it possible to talk about [EU visa] liberalization [for Armenia] when even basic, technical access is missing? If the system cannot serve the current demand, if [EU countries’] embassies [in Armenia] do not have sufficient resources, if the process is closed at the very entrance level, then what are they talking about from high podiums?

Moreover, all this forms an even sharper contrast these days, when Yerevan has hosted important European events, and an expectation is being formed in [Armenia’s] society that relations [with the EU] should be facilitated not only at the political, but also at the practical level.

But in reality, the [Armenian] citizen is faced with the opposite: a more complicated, more closed, and more impassable system. And this contradiction can no longer be ignored. If [EU] visa liberalization [for Armenia] is presented as a strategic direction, then it should not start with statements, but with real access. Until then, for many [in Armenia], talk about “approaching” Europe continues to remain beautiful phrasing, literally amid closed doors.