Thursday, June 2 2016 18:57

ArmInfo. Armenia is ranked the 110th in the Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) with a medium quality, Kommersant reports. The Henley & Partners - Kochenov Quality of Nationality Index (QNI) is the first to objectively rank the quality of nationalities worldwide. It explores both internal factors (such as the scale of the economy, human development, and peace and stability) and external factors (including visa-free travel and the ability to settle and work abroad without cumbersome formalities) that make one nationality better than another in terms of legal status in which to develop your talents and business. The QNI ranks nationalities on a scale from 0% to 100%. Scores are rounded to one decimal place. The QNI divides the nationalities of the world into four tiers based on quality: Very High Quality, High Quality, Medium Quality, and Low Quality: giving a very clear picture of the standing of each nationality of the world at one glance.

The newspaper says that as many as 185 nationalities have been analyzed. Armenia has somewhat improved its peace and stability indicator, however, the reduction in the number of countries for travel freedom and settlement freedom from three to one (now it is only Kyrgyzstan) played the key role in reducing the country's ranking. In 2011, Armenia was the 96th, in 2014 - 99th, and in 2015 it dropped to the 110th position. The drop was mostly due to tightening of Russia's emigration policy. At the same time, the authors point out that next year the situation for Armenia and Kyrgyzstan may change for the better: last year both countries joined the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and they may get visa-free entry to Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in the near future.

To note, free entry to the EEU members states, especially, Russia to live and work there within the framework of the single EEU labor market was one of the weighty arguments for Armenia's accession to the EEU. However, 2 years have already passed but this problem still remains unresolved. When commenting on the given question of ArmInfo, Vache Gabrielyan, Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia, Minister of International Economic Integration and Reforms, expressed obvious bewilderment, for he was unaware that the relevant provision of the EEU does not apply to the citizens of Armenia. It may seem strange but Gabrielyan requested specific facts demonstrating that Armenia does not yet enjoy the equal rights of the citizens of the other three member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.

Russia is ranked the 60th in the Quality of Nationality Index, Belarus - 82nd, Kazakhstan - 83rd, Azerbaijan - 107th, Uzbekistan - 111th, Tajikistan - 116th, Kyrgyzstan - 119th. Moldova is the 77th with the highest dynamics among the CIS member states.

The top five countries are Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, which shares its place with Iceland. Sudan, Eritrea, Central Africa, Afghanistan and Congo are the least attractive countries.

The QNI is the result of a successful cooperation between Henley & Partners, the global leader in residence and citizenship planning, and Professor Dr. Dimitry Kochenov, a leading constitutional law professor with a long-standing interest in European and comparative citizenship law. The three internal factors QNI takes into account are human development, economic strength, peace and stability. Two external aspects of any nationality's worth are travel freedom and settlement freedom.