Political analyst expresses confidence in the impossibility of Armenia's admission to the EU

Armenia will never join the European Union (EU), the country's government supports the course of European integration in its personal political interests against the background of the situation in the South Caucasus. This statement was made by Ruslan Andreev, expert of Polylog Group, political consultant, in a conversation with Izvestia on January 9.

Earlier in the day, the Armenian government approved the draft law on the beginning of the process of the country's accession to the European Union. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan specified that after the adoption of the initiative, Yerevan needs to develop a corresponding roadmap with Brussels.

"In capital letters and in big letters: Armenia will never join the EU. More precisely, it will never be accepted there. At least for geographical reasons. Answer yourself the question: can a state that does not border any EU state join the EU?" - Andreev commented.

In his opinion, Pashinyan's government makes such statements in order to "enjoy imaginary successes for the domestic public." Thus, he emphasized, the situation in the South Caucasus is heating up, the change of the Constitution and the peace agreement with Azerbaijan cannot be avoided by Yerevan, the expert expressed confidence.

"Pashinyan just vitally needs to demonstrate strength and victories: what he is doing then by "withdrawing" from the CSTO, then by altercations with [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko. It seems that having watched the Georgian scenario, he decided to give a new pill to the electorate," said the interlocutor of the newspaper.

He added that this tactic does not carry any risks for Pashinyan's government in the short term, as the EU roadmaps can be written for 10 years and be a candidate for membership for another 20 years, like Turkey.

Also on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Armenia, among other things, is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and it is hypothetically impossible to combine this with EU membership. At the same time, he emphasized that cooperation within the EAEU is beneficial for Armenia.

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 establishing closer relations with the EU does not pose a threat to Russia's interests in the Transcaucasus.