Yerevan has no intention of repealing the law “On Launching the Process of Armenia’s Accession to the European Union,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a briefing with reporters after a government meeting.
“Does anyone now say, ‘Who needs Armenia? Armenia has nowhere to go’? Is there such a statement now, and was there such a statement before the law was adopted? Yes, there was — not only a statement, but also such a perception. Therefore, that law is good. By adopting that law, both Armenia’s field of vision and the world’s perception of Armenia have broadened,” Pashinyan said.
The prime minister said Armenia now has significant foreign policy achievements that, in his view, would not have been possible without that law.
“Otherwise, we would have continued, in that same dispirited or irritated state, to follow statements saying that Armenia has nowhere to go,” he said.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Bishkek. Putin said Armenia’s aspiration to join the EU is a natural and legitimate right of the country and its people, that Armenia is a sovereign state and the Armenian people will determine the direction of its development. However, he said this creates difficulties regarding Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and threatens to nullify the country’s advantages in the Eurasian Economic Union market and disrupt established trade chains.
Earlier, the Kremlin said seeking integration with the European Union is Armenia’s sovereign right, but Yerevan cannot and should not pursue that policy at the expense of Eurasian Economic Union countries.
