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Nikol Pashinyan announces that Armenia will apply to join the EU by 2028, despite tensions with Russia

Cristiana Dida

6 November 2026, 14:38

International

Foto: shutterstock.com

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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced on Thursday that Armenia will submit its application to join the European Union in 2027 or 2028, in a new step toward the country’s reorientation to the West. The statement was made at a press conference amid deteriorating relations between Yerevan and Moscow.

Pashinyan said the government had begun a process intended to offer the population an alternative and the opportunity to choose the country’s strategic direction. He stressed, however, that Armenia does not currently intend to withdraw from the Eurasian Economic Union, an organization dominated by Russia.

The plan is causing friction with Moscow, which maintains that Armenia cannot join the EU while retaining its status in the EEU. Russia has also called for a referendum on Armenia’s foreign-policy orientation.

Bilateral relations deteriorated after Armenia’s defeat in the 2020 war with Azerbaijan and Baku’s recapture of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2023. Yerevan accuses Russia of failing to adequately protect its ally and has frozen its participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization. At the same time, Moscow remains Armenia’s main trading partner and an important supplier of energy and weapons.

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Context: Armenia was at the center of an EU–Moscow dispute, and Moscow called for a referendum before any steps toward accession

Before the announcement regarding the candidacy, the European Union said it was examining with interest a possible application for Armenia’s accession. At the same time, Russia insisted on holding a referendum on foreign policy orientation, and tensions escalated with sanctions: among the measures announced was a ban on imports of Armenian agricultural products.

The dispute was also revisited at the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan, where Vladimir Putin called on Armenia to choose between the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union and called for a rapid referendum, while Nikol Pashinyan said that, once a law declaring the intention to join the EU was adopted, a referendum would become unnecessary. Subsequently, Dmitry Medvedev stated that Armenia “will never join” the EU, linking the consequences to the deterioration of relations with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union.