Armenia has taken a major step toward European Union membership as its parliament adopted a bill on EU accession at its first reading on Wednesday.
The bill passed with 63 votes in favor and 7 against, with only the ruling Civil Contract faction voting in support. The opposition Hayastan faction did not participate in the voting, while the other opposition faction, Pativ Unem, voted against.
The bill, initially approved by the government on January 9, 2025, will now go through further parliamentary discussions.
The proposal was first introduced by civic organizations and supported by a petition with 60,000 signatures.
On February 11, Sisak Gabrielyan, a member of the Armenian parliament’s ruling Civil Contract faction, announced in a Facebook post that the process of Armenia’s accession to the European Union has begun.
In parallel with these political developments, efforts to strengthen Armenia-EU ties are also advancing in other areas.
On Tuesday, the EU expert mission arrived in Armenia to advance the EU-Armenia visa liberalization process.
This follows the December 2024 launch of the EU-Armenia Visa Liberalization Dialogue’s operational phase. Experts will conduct assessments from February 10-14 to evaluate Armenia’s readiness for visa-free travel.
The results of these missions will help to establish the list of conditions necessary to achieve the long-term objective of visa-free travel for Armenian citizens to the EU.
Despite this shift toward the EU, Armenian officials insist that the move does not signal a break with existing allies.
Addressing concerns, MP Sona Ghazaryan stressed that Armenia remains committed to regional diplomacy, including peace talks with Azerbaijan and normalization efforts with Turkey. According to her, the EU bid does not exclude continued cooperation with Russia or other partners.
