Deputy Minister: Azerbaijan and EU can completely abandon visa regime

Azerbaijan, Baku, August 13 /Trend A.Akhundov/ Following the simplification of visa regime between Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) the next step can be the visa regime's complete abolition, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Mahmud Mammadguliyev told Trend on Monday. The sides are preparing to sign an agreement on visa regime simplification during the third summit of Eastern Partnership countries in Vilnius on November 28-29, 2013. The simplified visa regime will be applied immediately after signing the agreement and its entry into the force, Mammadguliyev said. "The signing will be followed by ratification procedures, including in the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan and in the European Parliament. Additionally, it is necessary to sign bilateral agreements with the countries that are included into the Schengen area, but are not the EU members (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Liechtenstein). Alongside with this, there is no need to sign separate agreements with the EU Member States," Mammadguliyev said. According to the Deputy Minister, Azerbaijan and the EU have agreed on the categories of persons to be covered by this agreement. "The agreement will cover quite an extensive list of individuals: first of all it is the citizens leaving the country for education and business. In principle, the document covers a wide range of citizens. If the agreement's implementation between Azerbaijan and the European Union is performed properly, it will be followed by the full liberalization of our visa relations, that is, the second phase will be the abolition of the visa regime," Mammadguliyev said. The agreement on visa regime simplification for citizens of Azerbaijan implies the reduction of the list of documents to be submitted during the application for a visa, the possibility of issuing multiple-entry long-term visas, reducing the cost of visas for specific categories of people, setting deadlines for processing the visa applications. The readmission agreement, in turn, will allow developing a mechanism of return to homeland for the persons residing in the territory of the EU and Azerbaijan without corresponding permission. Relations between Azerbaijan and the EU are based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which was signed in 1996 in Luxembourg and entered into force in 1999. In 2009, the EU countries foreign ministers granted the European Commission a mandate to start negotiations on making of bilateral agreements with Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia on association with the EU. These agreements will be a new practical instrument to replace the bilateral action plans. Azerbaijan is also included in the EU program 'Eastern Partnership', adopted at the initiative of Poland and Sweden, and approved at the EU summit in Brussels in 2008. The purpose of the program is the convergence of the EU with Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. The program provides a significant increase in the level of political interaction, broad integration of the former Soviet republics into the EU economy, increasing the amount of financial assistance to these countries and strengthening the energy security. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az