<\/p>\n
Citizenship cannot be a \u201cfast-track service in exchange for investment\u201d but must be based on a genuine and lasting connection with the state, Armenian Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan has said, commenting on the European Union visa liberalisation action plan\u2019s requirement to refrain from granting citizenship in exchange for investment under so-called \u201cgolden passport\u201d schemes.The minister stressed that the benchmark had been formulated as a preventive measure and was fully consistent with Armenia\u2019s agenda for reforming the institution of citizenship. She added that it did not contradict the government\u2019s policies aimed at increasing the country\u2019s investment attractiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concept of granting citizenship in exchange for investment has been discussed from time to time, and these discussions are not new. However, as the official responsible for this sector, my position is clear and principled: citizenship cannot be a fast-track service in exchange for investment. It is an institution that must be based on a genuine and lasting connection with the state,\u201d Sargsyan said.According to the minister, Armenia has not developed \u201cgolden passport\u201d schemes, and the country\u2019s current policy directions do not envisage introducing such a model.<\/p>\n
She stressed that this approach does not in any way restrict investment policy, since promoting investment and the institution of citizenship are based on different principles and cannot be regarded as interchangeable instruments.\u201cOur policy approach is the following: we create a stable and open environment for investment, while preserving citizenship as an institution based on a stable and genuine connection with the state. We are currently drafting a package of amendments to the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Armenia, which will also introduce stricter provisions. This means that we are reassessing the value of citizenship as an institution,\u201d the interior minister said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Citizenship cannot be a \u201cfast-track service in exchange for investment\u201d but must be based on a genuine and lasting connection with the state, Armenian Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan has said, commenting on the European Union visa liberalisation action plan\u2019s requirement to refrain from granting citizenship in exchange for investment under so-called \u201cgolden passport\u201d schemes.The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3647,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions\/3647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mpc.ge\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}