Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a law on April 4 to formally begin Armenia's accession process to the European Union, Armenia's presidential press service announced.
The document does not mean immediate accession, but reflects the "aspirations of citizens." European integration is now part of Armenian legislation.
The Armenian parliament passed the bill, "On starting the process of accession of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union," in its final reading on March 26.
The initiative, launched as a civil petition after gathering 60,000 signatures, was backed by 64 lawmakers, with seven voting against it. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has stressed that the process can only proceed if the Armenian people approve it in a referendum.
The Kremlin previously warned that a country cannot be a member of both the EU and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
"Being members of two different organizations, hypothetically speaking, is simply impossible," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
The EAEU, founded in 2015, consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan and is widely seen as a tool for Moscow to maintain influence over former Soviet states.
Armenia's growing rift with Russia accelerated after the Kremlin failed to prevent Azerbaijan's September 2023 offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, leading to the mass exodus of the region's Armenian population.
Pashinyan previously said that while Armenia seeks closer ties with the EU, full membership remains uncertain.
The European Parliament urged the EU to deepen ties with Armenia in a March 2023 resolution, noting that the country meets the Maastricht Treaty's requirements to apply for membership.
Kateryna Hodunova
(Updated: )
