EU Union is ready to consider visa liberalization issue with Azerbaijan – Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy

Baku/24.06.20/Turan: European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Olivér Várhelyi asserts that the European Union is ready to consider visa liberalization issue with Azerbaijan.

 Várhelyi’s made such comments during a press conference following a video conference of the Eastern Partnership foreign affairs ministers, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

The Commissioner stressed that a request for visa-free travel the European Union and more Eastern Partners, including Azerbaijan, may soon be considered.

“I think our benchmarks and the conditions are well known. Should be we approached by such a request, of course, we’ll engage,” - Várhelyi said.

According to him, Eastern Partnership for Europe is one of the main priorities, and it will continue to be the key priority for the EU.

The European High Representative Josep Borell also participated in the press conference together with Commissioner Várhelyi.

“Today we have delivered the clear message to our Eastern Partners that even in the difficult times and mainly because the times are difficult you can count on us, we are standing by you, and we support you. But at the same time, we have to look jointly to the future and reflect on how to best shape this relationship and the upcoming working deliverables of a future partnership,” - Borell noted.

The video conference’s main purpose was to discuss the solidarity at the time of the Coronavirus pandemic,  the European Union’s substantial support to address the impact of the outbreak in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region.

According to Borell, EU has been side-by-side with its Eastern Partners and is ready to take every step on the way towards complete post-COVID-19 recovery. Borell said that Eastern Partnership is a success story, “and we want this success story to continue for the benefit of all our citizens. It’s 11 years of the successful policy, but there is still a lot to do and still a lot that we can achieve together.”

Last month, the Council of Europe said that it believes that the successful implementation of existing visa liberalization action plans through continuous fulfilment of relevant benchmarks and visa readmission agreement is vital, before moving on to reach new agreements with other countries, including the Eastern Partnership members. -0-