On March 26, the Parliament of Armenia finally approved the draft law "On the Beginning of the Process of Accession of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union" in the second reading.
This was reported by the Armenian news agency News.am, the agency "News-Armenia" and "Echo of the Caucasus".
The bill was supported by 64 deputies, with seven opposing it. According to media reports, the parliamentary opposition did not vote and called the bill a "mockery".
The initiator of the project is the civil initiative "Platform of Democratic Forces", which collected 60 thousand signatures in two months — for the parliament to consider the project, it is necessary to collect 50 thousand.
As Artak Zeynalyan, the authorized representative of the initiative group, noted, in recent months, at the level of officials and deputies of various European capitals and structures, unambiguous and clear signals in support of launching the process of Armeniaʼs membership in the EU have been sounded.
The head of the European Integration Commission Arman Yegoyan stated that there are currently no plans to apply for EU membership, and that this bill simply expresses the will of the Armenian people for European integration. Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that the decision on Armeniaʼs accession to the EU can only be made through a national referendum.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs announced that a new partnership agenda will be approved in the near future, which includes measures for rapprochement with the EU.
Armeniaʼs pro-European course
Armenia has taken a course of distancing itself from Russia. This is happening against the backdrop of deteriorating relations and threats from the Russian Federation.
In September 2024, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which is effectively controlled by the Russian Federation, of threatening the countryʼs sovereignty. And the Investigative Committee of Armenia reported an attempted coup in the country, the preparations for which were being carried out in Russia.
Pashinyan claimed that the CSTO failed to fulfill its obligations to Yerevan during the Nagorno-Karabakh war, which resulted in Azerbaijan regaining its territories. As a result, Pashinyan announced his intention to withdraw from the CSTO.
Armeniaʼs plans to apply for EU membership became known in March 2024. The country has pro-European aspirations, so it is strengthening relations with Western countries, in particular with the United States.
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