Overview
- Prime Minister Nikol Paschinjan told parliament Monday that Yerevan will start preparing a formal EU membership application and then seek Brussels’ response before holding a nationwide referendum.
- Paschinjan said a public vote would occur only after the EU issues a roadmap for accession, setting a staged process of application, a Brussels reply, a negotiation plan, and then a referendum.
- He openly criticized Russia’s role in Armenia’s security, pointed to the 2021–2023 failures of Russian peacekeepers as a driver of the shift, and urged the Russia-led Organisation of Collective Security to consider excluding Armenia.
- The Kremlin responded with sharp warnings, including President Vladimir Putin’s reference to a “Ukrainian scenario” and spokesman Dmitri Peskov’s threat that leaving the security bloc could trigger trade and economic pressure that would mainly hurt Armenia.
- Brussels has offered symbolic and limited practical help such as a mission to counter disinformation, but EU accession requires long negotiations and unanimous member approval while Armenia remains economically tied to Russia through trade, energy supplies and long-term rail agreements, leaving ordinary people exposed to possible retaliation and a slow, uncertain path to membership.