Pashinyan Admits Armenia's Withdrawal From The EAEU

Yerevan is taking a course towards the European Union.

Armenia may withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the country's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said. According to him, such a scenario is likely given the republic's aspirations for European integration. "We realize that simultaneous membership in the European Union and the EAEU is impossible. When the moment of the final choice comes, we will make an appropriate decision," Pashinyan said.

On April 4, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a law approved by the parliament on the country's intention to join the European Union. Pashinyan said this aspiration should be confirmed by the results of a referendum to be held later. The association itself has not yet offered membership, but in June, European diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas said the EU is ready to deepen partnership with the republic "in all directions." She praised the Armenian government's commitment to democratic reforms in the face of hybrid threats and attempts to interfere in the country's internal affairs. At the same time, Yerevan and Brussels began discussing defense and security cooperation.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Armenia's membership in the EU and its participation in the EAEU, which also includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, incompatible. "Because these are two different free trade zones, two different systems of reducing or waiving duties and tariffs, they do not coincide," he explained. In turn, Lavrov's deputy Mikhail Galuzin warned Armenia against leaving the EAEU, saying the EU is a structure with "stick discipline, subordinated to anti-Russian narratives."

The Kremlin called European integration the republic's "sovereign right," but also stressed that it would not be able to be members of two different organizations. "Here is one customs space, one zone of free movement of goods, services, people, capitals, there is another, there are other norms," Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified.

The EU decided to expand bilateral cooperation with Armenia and launched work on an "ambitious agenda for a new partnership" in 2024. In September, the two sides began talks on visa-free travel. Brussels said it was ready to abolish visas for short-term travel if the republic's authorities carry out "substantial reforms", including in border control, migration and the fight against corruption.

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