Armenia says negotiations on new Armenian–EU agenda ‘almost accomplished’

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan has said that negotiations on a new Armenia–EU agenda document are ‘almost accomplished’, which ‘would mean an upgrade of our bilateral ties’.

Hovhannisyan’s statement came on Tuesday, during the fourth EU–Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee meeting held in Yerevan.

He elaborated that the new document would ‘amend the existing legal foundation [and] enlarge the scope of our partnership’.

Vassilis Maragos, the EU Ambassador to Armenia, said that the work on the document started following a request by the European Council in October 2023.

‘Once this process is completed and new ambitious priorities are agreed it will mark yet another milestone of our cooperation. Indeed a significant step forward in bringing Armenia closer to the EU in line with the aspiration of the people of Armenia’, Hovhannisyan said.

On 12 February, a draft law supporting Armenia’s prospective EU membership bid passed its first reading in the Armenian Parliament, which was previously approved by the government during a cabinet meeting in early January.

Armenian EU membership bill passes first reading

The bill was greenlit by the Armenian government in January.

OC MediaArshaluys Barseghyan

Currently, as Hovhannisyan said, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) serves as a legal foundation of the Armenia-EU partnership.

Hovhannisyan said that Armenia was ‘fully committed to its effective implementation’, adding that ‘with the additional efforts from the EU side, we would try to advance the implementation of CEPA further’.

‘Marriage’ with whom?

During Tuesday’s EU–Armenia Parliamentary Partnership Committee session, both sides underscored the progress of bilateral relations made over the past few years, with Nils Ušakovs, the committee’s co-chair, mentioning that the European Parliament ‘has already clearly expressed its support for the development and deepening of relations, but everything also depends on Armenia, what kind of relations it seeks to have’.

One such important step came in July 2024 when the EU for the first time approved €10 million ($11 million) in non-lethal military aid to Armenia through the European Peace Facility. In September 2024, the Armenia–EU visa liberalisation dialogue was launched.

Hovhannisyan noted that Armenia had already ‘placed the request for the continuation of assistance for [20]25’.

He also noted that the EU continued to be a top partner for Armenia in the reforms agenda, which is ‘aimed at strengthening the economy and diversification of our choices’.

Armenian officials also praised the role of the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA), saying that it helped reduce the number of incidents on the border and prevented ‘the risk of a possible escalation’.

In January, the European Council adopted a decision extending the mandate of the EUMA until February 2027.

The EU initially deployed a two-month monitoring mission along the Armenia–Azerbaijan border following the September 2022 war between the two countries. Following this, a mission with a two-year mandate was deployed in January 2023, which has proved to be a major sticking point in the ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, with Baku repeatedly demanding its withdrawal.

During the session, MEP Rasa Juknevičienė asked Hovhannisyan about Armenia’s ‘status of marriage’ with the countries in the ‘Eurasian area’ and Russia, saying that without ‘divorce [there] would be [no] new marriage’.

In February, following the passing of the bill on supporting Armenia’s prospective EU membership bid, several high-ranking Russian officials warned that Armenia’s accession to the EU was ‘incompatible’ with its Eurasian Economic Union membership, reminding Armenians of the benefits that membership in the bloc provides.

Hovhannisyan noted that Armenia chose to be pragmatic to protect its national interests, mentioning that Armenia had ‘marriages’ with Western countries as well.

‘The thing is how to find better options to survive in these challenging realities [...] our approach is to try to move forward with sometimes smaller steps and then to see how the situation would evolve’, Hovhannisyan said.

He added that Armenia could not take any ‘radical step which would endanger our economy or the stability of the country and security most importantly, but to have new options for our development, for democratisation that’s the goal which we have always [been] trying to perceive’.

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