Armenia Signs Bill on EU Ascension Into Law

Armenia's President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a bill into law that will begin the process of joining the European Union. The bill came in response to a campaign initiative "Eurovote" that had gathered 60,00 signatures to request Armenia begin the process of EU ascension.

In January, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that a referendum would be needed to decide on the issue, however, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has stated that the bill passed was based on a public initiative, signaling no intent a this time by Yerevan to hold a referendum.

Armenia is already a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) alongside Russia and Moscow has stated that Armenia cannot be a member of both blocs at the same time, and views the passing of the bill as the beginning of Armenia's withdrawal from the EAEU.

Armenian officials however have stated that Yerevan has no intention of leaving the bloc. In January, Economics Minister Gevorg Papoyan stated that Armenia did not intend to replace the EAEU.

This goes along with a pattern by the Pashinyan government to stop participating in post-Soviet organizations while increasing cooperation with the West, while not officially withdrawing from the institutions.

Last year, Pashinyan stopped Armenia's participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) while refusing to announce when they would formally withdrawal from the alliance, despite hosting NATO troops for a joint exercise in July.

While Armenia has also not signaled a desire to withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in October Armenia refused to sign two joint statements made by the Foreign Ministers of CIS countries and in December, Pashinyan would skip the summit meeting of the CIS heads of state.