Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 25 / Trend A.Gasimova /
EU Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmstrom intends to propose the start of negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Azerbaijan and Armenia before the summer.
"Moldova and Ukraine are in the process of making the reforms needed to be able to enjoy visa free travel to the EU. Other countries are also aiming for that same goal," Malmström said during the two-day visit to Chisinau on Tuesday.
She said the visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Georgia will enter into force on 1 March.
The EU and Azerbaijan signed an agreement on partnership, which entered into force in 1999. The sides have also cooperated within the European Neighborhood Policy since 2003.
In May 2010, Azerbaijani-EU relations entered a new phase with a partnership within the framework of the EU Eastern Partnership Program initiated by Poland and Sweden.
The Eastern Partnership is aimed at the political and economic rapprochement of six post-Soviet states - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus - and the EU. The program does not provide opportunities for EU membership, but involves facilitating the visa regime, energy cooperation and the introduction of free trade zones.
As I stand here today, both Moldova and Ukraine are in the process of making the reforms needed to be able to enjoy visa free travel to the EU. Other countries are also aiming for that same goal. I intend to propose the start of negotiations on visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Armenia and Azerbaijan before the summer, and the visa facilitation and readmission agreements with Georgia will enter into force on 1 March.