Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 12 / Trend A.Akhundov /
Complete abolition of visa regime between Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU) could become the next step after its facilitation, Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mamedguliyev told Trend on Monday.
The sides are preparing to sign an agreement on visa facilitation during the third Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on November 28-29, 2013.
According to Mammadguliyev, the simplified regime will be applied immediately after the signing and entry into force of the agreement.
"The signing of the agreement will be followed by ratification procedures, including in the Milli Mejlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan and the European Parliament. Additionally, it is necessary to sign bilateral agreements with the countries that are part of the Schengen area, but are not members of the EU [Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein]. Thus there is no need to sign separate agreements with the EU Member States," Mamedguliyev said.
According to him, 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, including, first and foremost, citizens applying for visa for education and business purposes. Basically, the document covers a wide range of citizens. If the implementation of the agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union goes smoothly, the uttermost liberalization of our visa relations will follow. That is, the abolition of the visa regime will mark the second phase," Mamedguliyev said.
The agreement on simplification of visa regime for citizens of Azerbaijan provides for the reduction of the list of documents to be submitted with the application for a visa, the possibility of issuing multiple-entry visas with a long period of validity, reducing the cost of visas for specific categories of people, setting deadlines for processing visa applications.
The readmission agreement, in turn, will work out a mechanism of return to the homeland of persons residing in the territory of the EU and Azerbaijan with no permission.
Relations between Azerbaijan and the EU are based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement signed in 1996 in Luxembourg that came into force in 1999. In 2009, the EU foreign ministers gave the European Commission a mandate to start negotiations on the conclusion of bilateral association agreements between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia and the EU. These agreements will serve as a new practical instrument to replace bilateral action plans.
Azerbaijan is also a part of the EU Eastern Partnership Programme adopted at the initiative of Poland and Sweden and approved at the EU summit in Brussels in 2008. The purpose of the programme is to achieve convergence between the EU and Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Belarus. It provides for a significant increase in the level of political engagement, broad integration of former Soviet republics in the EU economy, increasing the amount of financial assistance and strengthening energy security.