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Beginning from 2009, finger prints of the citizens of Armenia will be required for submission of applications for Schengen visas. As most of the Schengen states do not have consular missions in Armenia, the process of obtaining visas will become very costly. For instance, filing an application at one of consular authorities in Moscow (for Estonia, Hungary, Slovakia and some other countries) will cost about 400 Euros because of the flight costs. The situation will first of all affect students, youth activists, and NGO workers. Similar difficulties will be faced by citizens of Azerbaijan, Georgia and number of other states.
It is important that recently Poland and Sweden proposed the ‘Eastern Initiative’, which has been supported by all EU member states. Within the framework of that initiative it has been planned to develop of cooperation between the European Union, on one side, and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, on the other side. In particular, measures aimed to facilitation of visa procedures for young people, students, scholars, civic activists were proposed.
We would suggest establishing a ‘Schengen Visa Centre’ in Yerevan, where authorised personnel would receive applications for visas and collect finger prints, with subsequent forwarding of data to appropriate consular authorities. The Centre might be based on the premises of the consulate of one of the Schengen states represented in Yerevan.
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ACGRC became a member of the Danish Development Research Network
ACGRC became a member of the Black Sea Research Network (BSRN). BSRN is an action-focused and multidisciplinary network of policy-oriented research institutes that develop research programmes on issues of importance to the political, social and economic development of the Black Sea region. It represents an innovative attempt to structure and coordinate a network of research institutes (and researchers) focusing on the wider Black Sea region. The Network is working under the patronage of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (Greece).
Chairman of the Board of the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan took part in the Czech Television film Sore Spots of Southern Caucasus.
Petruška Šustrová is the script author and Martin Mahdal is cameraman and producer of the film.
ACGRC became a member of the Central and Eastern European Citizens Network (CEE CN). The network was created to provide opportunities for citizens' grassroots initiatives from CEE region to learn, exchange experiences and ideas as well as enhance their organisational growth through establishing and managing a partner relationship among themselves.