Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Thursday that Armenia would apply to join the European Union by 2028. Accusing Russia of failing to provide adequate protection, the former Soviet republic has turned towards the West.
Relations between Moscow and Yerevan deteriorated sharply following Armenia’s military defeat by Azerbaijan in 2020 and Baku’s recapture of the disputed enclave of Karabakh in 2023, Agerpres reports.
“We have begun a process aimed at creating an alternative so that our people have a choice,” Pashinyan announced.
The prime minister clarified that Armenia has no immediate plans to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a trade bloc that brings together several of Russia’s allies.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that joining the EU while remaining in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will not be possible. The Kremlin is insisting that Armenia hold a referendum on potential European integration. Meanwhile, Yerevan has suspended its participation in the Russian equivalent of NATO, known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
This year, Moscow imposed trade restrictions on Armenian agricultural products and resorted to energy blackmail, just as it had previously done with the Republic of Moldova.