The majority of Armenian parliament members agreed yesterday to start negotiations on joining the European Union. Russia warned of the disadvantages of Armenia's accession to the EU, saying it was incompatible with its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union.
The Armenian parliament yesterday approved a bill to start negotiations for EU membership by 63 votes to seven. The bill was preceded by a petition signed by around 50 people urging the government to start accession talks.
The country's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said a referendum should be held to decide Armenia's eventual EU membership. Armenia will become the fourth former Soviet republic to join the EU.
Armenians have strengthened their ties with the West in recent years, leading to harsher relations with Russia.
But accession talks could be complicated by the long-running dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which also does not share a border with any other EU member state.
Russia has warned Armenia about the potential downsides of joining the bloc. In an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia this week, Russia’s deputy foreign minister stressed that the EU wants Armenia to be politically loyal and abide by sanctions against Russia.
Russian officials also said that Armenia's interest in European Union membership is incompatible with its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which is based on the economic union of Central Asian states and Russia.
