The working group formed to effectively implement the necessary commitments and sectoral processes for the implementation of the Armenia-EU visa liberalization action plan on Wednesday held a regular meeting, chaired by Acting Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Armenia Armen Ghazaryan.

The discussion focused on the progress in the implementation of the recommendations in the first progress report of the European Commission on the implementation of the visa liberalization action plan in the areas of public order and security, foreign relations and fundamental human rights, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Armen Ghazaryan noted that the proper implementation of the action plan continues under the coordination of Arpine Sargsyan, Minister of Internal Affairs Armenia and chief negotiator of the Armenia-EU visa liberalization process, and the commitment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia is to ensure the full implementation of the respective benchmarks.

It was emphasized that 41 out of 72 actions arising from the recommendations in the third and fourth directions have already been implemented, and work is ongoing on the remaining 31 actions.

Under the coordination of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Armenia, the main emphasis of the implementation of the action plan is on the formation of a legislative and strategic framework.

Two visits of the EU assessment mission to Armenia are planned before the end of the year. In October, the progress recorded in the first and second directions of the action plan will be assessed, and in December—in the third and fourth directions.

Speaking about the work done, the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia referred to the crime prevention strategy and the development of the action plan arising from it. It was noted that the draft documents have been developed, and work is underway to further amend them and adopt the strategy by the end of the year.

During the meeting, the actions defined in the third and fourth directions of the draft action plan of the Armenian government for the implementation of the Armenia-EU visa liberalization action plan were also discussed.

The participants presented their observations and suggestions, and clarified the priorities for further work and the actions to be taken within the framework of interdepartmental cooperation.