Armenia’s government has approved a draft law to bid for European Union membership, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced on Thursday.
The bill now heads to parliament and will ultimately be decided by a referendum, according to Pashinian. "The decision to join the EU or any other supranational organisation can only be made by referendum, in accordance with the constitution," he told Armenpress news agency.
Armenia has traditionally been within Russia’s sphere of influence in the South Caucasus, but relations have cooled since Pashinian took office in 2018 with a more Western-leaning stance. Russia has long guaranteed Armenia’s security, including in its ongoing conflict with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
During the recent confrontation over the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia did not intervene. Azerbaijani forces expelled over 100,000 Armenians from the enclave, now fully dominated by Baku. This has led Yerevan – the capital of Armenia – to distance itself from the Russia-dominated military alliance (CSTO), although Russia still maintains a military base in Armenia.
Armenia is also a member of the Russia-dominated Eurasian Economic Union. Ukraine’s decision to ignore this economic bloc and pursue EU membership partly triggered the conflict that led to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov reacted to Armenia’s decision on Thursday, stating that it is "impossible" to be a member of both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union.
