Greece fully supports Armenia’s visa liberalisation process with the European Union, the Ambassador of Greece, Christos Sofianopoulos, has said.
Sofianopoulos’ comments came following a meeting held with the Armenian Minister of Internal Affairs, Arpine Sargsyan, Schengen.News reports.
Minister Sargsyan talked about the relationship between the countries, emphasising the need for further deepening the cooperation and existing potential at the level of ministries.
The Greek ambassador reiterated the Hellenic Republic’s readiness to enhance cooperation in several directions, according to a report from Armen Press.
Both parties discussed the opportunities for cooperation in fields like law enforcement, civil protection, migration, and citizenship.
Visa Liberalisation Among Top Priorities of Armenia
In the meeting held between Armenian Minister of Internal Affairs Arpine Sargsyan and the Ambassador of Greece Christos Sofianopoulos, the launch of the EU visa liberalisation process was also discussed.
Regarding the issue, the Ambassador said that the Hellenic Republic fully supports this issue.
Both sides also talked about upcoming steps for further tightening bilateral cooperation.
The EU-Armenia visa liberalisation agreement is among the top priorities of Armenia.
Last month, the Head of the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Interior Ministry of Armenia, Nelly Davtyan, said that the EU visa liberalisation action plan is expected to be finished by June 2025.
The action plan will be developed by June, which will no longer be a negotiable document. As much as we picture what the document is going to say based on the experience of other countries, we will be able to make concrete predictions about the requirements under the defined targets when we have the document.
However, she didn’t provide any comments in terms of the timeframe for when the visa-free travel agreement could become effective.
Among the main requirements that Armenia needs to fulfil to advance in the visa liberalisation talks with the bloc is the issuance of biometric passports and identification cards.
The most difficult infrastructure, which was a novelty for Armenia, was the introduction of the biometric passport, with a workaround in process.
Armenia will start issuing biometric passports and identification cards in the first half of 2026. Authorities in Armenia issued biometric passports from 2021 until 2017.