YEREVAN.- Belgium is glad for Armenia-EU agreement signing, Belgian Ambassador to Armenia Jean-Arthur Regibeau told reporters on Thursday in Yerevan.
"We are very glad that an agreement was signed between Armenia and the EU last week. This agreement will improve Armenia's relations with Belgium and other EU members. On the one hand, Armenia is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), on the other hand, the state signed an agreement with the EU. Armenia can become a bridge between the EAEU and the EU. We welcome this role," the ambassador said.
At the same time, he noted that the issue of the visa regime liberalization isn't resolved as the signed agreement doesn't extend to the visa regime. According to the ambassador, the issue can be resolved in two stages. During the first stage, the visa regime can be facilitated. At the second stage it can be canceled.
"However, we realize that this is impossible for technical and political reasons. Nevertheless, it is a political goal which we have declared. One of the technical reasons is the mutual recognition of passports. Our goal is to achieve cancellation of the visa regime step by step," the ambassador noted.
Asked whether there is a fear that if the visa regime is abolished, a large stream of Armenians will rush to Europe, the ambassador said delicately: "You are just talking about the political reason I spoke about. For this reason, many European countries do not want to abolish the visa regime for all countries. We want to be sure that if the visa regime is canceled, there will not be a large flow of visitors. Therefore, it is necessary to be patient, "the ambassador said.
