Visiting Yerevan, Kallas says the EU and Armenia have never been as close as now
Armenia and the EU have concluded negotiations on an ‘ambitious’ new partnership agenda and agreed to launch security and defence consultations.
The new agreements came as part of EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas’ visit to Armenia, where she met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Monday.
In a press briefing with Kallas, Mirzoyan announced that the new partnership agenda ‘will supplement and deepen the Armenia–EU bilateral agenda by introducing new areas of cooperation’.
‘At the same time, it will promote the effective implementation of the Armenia–EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement’, he said, adding that relations with the EU ‘have never been as comprehensive and close as they are now’.
Mirzoyan said the launch of security and defence consultations with the EU was a ‘critical step towards aligning our cooperation framework with contemporary challenges and intensifying joint efforts to address them’. He said collaboration with the EU includes efforts to combat ‘hybrid threats and disinformation’.
‘In this context, of course, within today’s discussions we emphasised the importance of the work carried out by the EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia and examined the provision of assistance to Armenia through the European Peace Facility’, he said.
He also announced that they signed an agreement allowing Armenia to participate in EU Crisis Management Missions, which ‘reflects Armenia’s aspiration and intent to contribute constructively to promotion of global security, stability, and peace worldwide’.
‘Thus, we can surely state today that Armenia–EU relations have never been as comprehensive and close as they are now’, said Mirzoyan, briefly touching on the Armenian Parliament’s adoption of a law supporting Armenia’s prospective EU membership, saying he had an ‘opportunity with my colleagues to discuss the possible further realistic steps for implementing this law’.
‘We have also discussed the issues related to the successful progress of the visa liberalisation dialogue, which in our opinion is the best opportunity for the citizens of Armenia to get close to the EU and we expect tangible steps in this direction in parallel with the implementation of the necessary reforms by Armenia’, he added.
In Pashinyan’s meeting with Kallas, the two discussed general relations, with Pashinyan thanking the EU ‘for its continuous support to Armenia’.
According to a readout of the meeting published by Pashinyan’s office, Kallas said the EU was ready to ‘further deepen the partnership in all directions’, highlighting the trilateral agreement signed between Yerevan, Brussels, and Washington in April 2024 as a milestone in strengthening cooperation between Armenia and the West.
Kallas also noted that Armenia and the European Union have never been closer to each other than they are now.
She emphasised that democratic values in Armenia ‘must be protected, especially in the face of hybrid threats, disinformation, and attempts to interfere in the country’s internal affairs’.
Armenia has previously accused Russia of waging a ‘hybrid war’ against it, with Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Alen Simonyan stating in May that the war would ‘become even more active in 2026’, when Armenia will hold its parliamentary election.
Most recently, on Monday, Mirzoyan criticised his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, for commenting on the Armenian government’s ongoing row with the Armenian Church, urging him ‘to refrain from interfering in Armenia’s domestic affairs and internal politics’.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
