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Visa-free travel between Armenia, EU may trigger brain drain — Russian Foreign Ministry

"The authors are seeking to hold out the prospect of a visa-free regime with the EU, which would lead to a substantial outflow of young and economically active people to Europe," the statement reads

MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. The introduction of visa-free travel between Armenia and the European Union would potentially lead to a "brain drain," or outflow of promising youths from the former Soviet republic, thus affecting its security and economy, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned.

Commenting on a report drafted by the Friends of Armenia Network titled, "Deepening EU-Armenia Relations: More Europe in Armenia," compiled under the supervision of former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Foreign Ministry told TASS: "The authors are seeking to hold out the prospect of a visa-free regime with the EU, which would lead to a substantial outflow of young and economically active people to Europe and have a negative effect on the Armenian economy and security."

The Russian Foreign Ministry recounted that residents of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as well as the Baltic states, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, which are already members of the EU, have been relocating en masse to take low-income jobs in the EU’s more economically secure countries.

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