Visa liberalization with the European Union (EU) now depends on Armenia. The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ararat Mirzoyan, on Wednesday stated this during a joint press conference with his visiting Slovenian colleague, Tone Kajzer, in Yerevan.

The Armenian foreign minister noted that the visa liberalization process with the EU has been proceeding at a fairly fast pace so far, but now is the phase when further progress depends on Armenia itself. According to him, if we talk about specific timeframes, then the Armenian society needs to be explained that progress depends on legislative reforms and technical processes.

And when asked whether this process could be influenced by events taking place in Armenia itself; for example, the election violations reflected in the recent Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) report, Mirzoyan replied that the final conclusion of the aforementioned report proves that the Armenian parliamentary elections on June 7 meet high European standards, whereas the aforementioned violations are nothing more than the Armenian law enforcement agencies’ response to attempts to vote buying.

According to the minister, as a state governed by the rule of law, it is Armenia’s duty to act in that direction, and “we are glad” that law enforcement agencies are taking steps in that direction.