The Past daily of the Republic of Armenia (RA) writes as follows, in particular: Yesterday, the second visit of the EU expert mission to Armenia kicked off, the goal of which, according to the official report, is to assess Armenia’s progress in visa liberalization. In general, [Armenian] government representatives have started talking about this topic more often in recent times. And in January, in Davos, [PM] Nikol Pashinyan had said that he hoped that the negotiations on visa liberalization would be completed and the document signed as soon as possible.

However, the more this is talked about, the more difficult becomes the possibility for Armenian citizens to obtain a Schengen visa. We regularly receive information that the visa support centers (especially “along the lines” of France and Italy) [in Armenia] have simply turned people’s lives into hell. First, a number of citizens who contacted us were complaining that everything is being done to prevent them from being issued a visa “the first time.” Well, each application costs approximately 35 thousand drams (visa fee + visa center fee). It’s first and foremost about those who try to apply independently, rather than using the paid services of the same centers (plus a minimum of 25-30 thousand drams). And in cases where it is obvious that there is no reason for refusal (say, they have had visas for different periods of time many times in the past), it “suddenly” turns out that in the papers or during the “storm,” for example, some number is wrong or missing. No yielding, no normal attitude. On the contrary, in conversations with us, people were noting how rudely and “from above” they are being treated.

All this, by the way, first of all damages the reputation of the embassies and EU member states themselves. But perhaps the [Armenian] government is also obligated to deal with these issues; after all, this refers to RA citizens.