18 July 2024
The European Union is reportedly moving to advance its relationship with Armenia by laying out an action plan for visa liberalisation.
RFE/RL have reported that in the coming months, the EU intends to develop an action plan for visa liberalisation dialogue with the Armenian Government. According to the report, the European Council greenlit the recommendation on Wednesday.
The report was corroborated by Arman Yeghoyan, chair of the Armenian Parliament’s European Integration Committee later that day. Yeghoyan wrote on his Facebook page that a formal decision on the action plan could be reached and announced on 22 July.
The news emerged against the backdrop of worsening relations between Armenia and Russia, coupled with Armenia growing closer to the EU and the US. The shifting dynamic has come as Russia has been widely seen to have reneged on its security guarantees in the region. These included the inaction of Russian peacekeepers during Azerbaijan’s takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2023 as well as refusing to side with its formal security ally, Armenia, during Azerbaijani incursions into Armenia.
According to a public opinion survey commissioned by the International Republican Institute and conducted last December, 87% of those surveyed thought positively of Armenian–EU relations.
In March, the European Parliament adopted a resolution welcoming Armenia’s ‘pursuit of a more reliable security framework’ than the one provided by the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and endorsing the country’s possible EU membership aspirations. A month earlier, Armenia announced it was suspending its engagement with the CSTO.
On Wednesday, during a visit to Yerevan which coincided with joint Armenian–American military drills, US Under Secretary of State Uzra Zeya echoed those sentiments. She said the US saw ‘nothing to indicate that Russia's military presence contributes to a more peaceful and stable South Caucasus region’. The drills also coincided with Armenia's participation in the NATO summit in Washington, which irked the Russian authorities last week.
The EU is also expected to approve €10 million in non-lethal military aid for Armenia through its European Peace Facility mechanism.
Armenia has been part of the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative since its inception in 2009.
The EaP also gave birth to a narrower framework of the ‘Associated Trio’ of Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine — countries which previously harboured greater ambitions and readiness for EU integration.
However, the future of the trio became uncertain following Russia’s fullscale invasion of Ukraine, which was compounded by a significant shift in Georgia’s foreign policy.
Amidst deteriorating relations with the EU and the adoption of Russia-styled foreign agent law by Georgia, several EU countries, including Estonia, the Netherlands, Czechia, and Sweden, have reportedly floated the idea of revoking visa-free travel for Georgia.
