Ombudsman: Artsakh citizens face problems in obtaining Schengen visas

ArmInfo. Artsakh citizens are facing increasing difficulties in obtaining Schengen visas, as stated  by Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan at a press conference in Yerevan on August 30.  

According to him, the problem has become  relevant since March-April of this year.  "There are embassies that  issue visas without any problems, such as the French embassy. No  refusals have occurred due to the presence of the 070 code in the  passport. Some embassies use a differentiated approach.  For  instance, I am aware of a case when the same person was refused at  the German embassy. Additionally, there are embassies that do not  issue visas at all. Specifically, I would like to highlight  Lithuania, the Czech Republic and Poland," the human rights defender  stated. According to Stepanyan, the reason for the refusal of visas  for citizens of Artsakh is the presence of the code 070 in their  passports. The ombudsman noted that the official statements received  from the embassies say that their decisions are based on statements  by the Armenian authorities and they do not have the tools to verify  if passports with the code 070 indicate Armenian citizenship.

"Therefore, as explained by these embassies, they cannot accept a  visa application from a person. After these cases, discussions were  held with representatives of European embassies. I was then informed  that a decision had been made to grant visas. Various sources,  including those from Brussels, assured that visas would be issued.  However, applications with the code 070 are not even taken into  consideration," Stepanyan said, adding that such situations did not  occur in the case of the American Embassy.  At the same time, he  criticized the Armenian Foreign Ministry, expressing his belief that  this was a result of negligence on their part. Earlier it became  known that several European countries do not grant visas to citizens  of Artsakh. Additionally, there have been cases where Artsakh  residents were denied departure from Yerevan's Zvartnots airport due  to their Artsakh passports, even though they possessed refugee  certificates.