Armenian government approves draft law on starting the EU accession process

The Armenian government at a meeting on January 9 approved a draft law on starting the process of the state's accession to the European Union (EU).

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan specified that the decision on the country's accession to the association can be made only through a national referendum. He added that after the adoption of the draft law, Yerevan should work out a corresponding roadmap with the EU.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan noted that the country's relations with the EU have been developing "intensively and dynamically" in recent years. According to him, the EU has provided Yerevan with assistance, particularly in the security sphere, as well as expressed readiness to help the economic development of the state.

Sputnik Armenia in its Telegram channel specifies that 50 thousand signatures were collected for this initiative of the bill.

On November 22, 2024, Pashinyan said that the Armenian society is positively inclined towards rapprochement with the EU. Then he noted that there is no political logic to be against holding a referendum on EU membership.

In April, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova noted that the West assigns Armenia only the role of a tool for "fueling the fire" in the Caucasus. In his turn, Yerevan's Ambassador to the EU Tigran Balayan emphasized that the turn of the republic's foreign policy towards closer relations with the EU does not pose a threat to Russia's interests in the Transcaucasus.

Prior to that, in mid-March, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan said that Yerevan is developing a new document on cooperation with the EU, which is planned to be signed in July. According to him, in case of full implementation of the agreement on comprehensive and expanded partnership between Armenia and the EU, the republic will have "the status of readiness of a candidate country for EU membership.