The Armenian parliament voted on Wednesday to begin the process of applying to join the European Union as Russia's former close ally seeks closer ties with the West.
The bill, adopted with 64 votes in favour and seven against, urges the Armenian government to initiate the EU membership application process.
For nearly a year and a half, this Armenia has increasingly distanced itself from Russia, a long-time ally which has historically supplied Yerevan with arms and maintains a military base on Armenian soil.
Armenia accuses Moscow of failing to provide adequate support against Azerbaijan. Baku forcibly reclaimed the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was ruled by ethnic Armenians in the now dissolved Republic of Artsakh until autumn 2023. Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in Karabakh did not intervene during the Azerbaijani offensive, despite being mandated to enforce the 2020 ceasefire after a war that lasted for six weeks.
Changing alliances
At the end of January 2024, Armenia officially joined the International Criminal Court (ICC) despite Moscow’s warnings, obligating the country to arrest Vladimir Putin should he set foot in Armenia, in accordance with an ICC arrest warrant.
A permanent Russian military base remains in Gyumri, Armenia, and Yerevan is still a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a military alliance led by Moscow. However, in February 2024, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan declared that Armenia had effectively "frozen" its participation in the alliance.
In March, Armenia and Azerbaijan announced they had agreed on a "peace agreement" to resolve their decades-long conflict, though the agreement has yet to be signed.
