Armenia’s EU membership is “absolutely” possible, Polish official says

Poland has expressed strong support for Armenia’s European path, with Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs State Secretary Marcin Bosacki saying that Armenia’s ambition to join the European Union is possible, although it will not happen overnight.

Speaking to Armenpress in an interview, Bosacki said Poland is ready to support Armenia’s European ambitions, including closer economic ties with the EU and the country’s efforts toward membership.

He also highlighted Poland’s own experience as a former EU candidate country, saying Warsaw can share its experience of preparing for membership and negotiating with the European Union.

The official said that Poland is ready to expand bilateral cooperation with Armenia in trade, investment, defense and security. Bosacki highlighted that the growing ties between Armenia and Poland are rooted in the two countries’ shared values, including democracy, sovereignty and the right of nations to shape their own future.

The interview was conducted on September 10, 2026, in Yerevan.

Armenpress: Over the past three to four years, Armenia and Poland have seen growing political dialogue and high-level exchanges, including the visits of the leaders this year. What has brought the two countries closer, and where do you see the relationship heading?

Bosacki: I think that the main reason why we are closer is that both countries share the same values. So, commitment to democracy, commitment to sovereignty, commitment to the people creating their own countries, and why this is so important in case of both Armenia and Poland, because both you and us have quite difficult neighborhood, with bigger powers trying to influence the fate of the smaller neighbors. Yes, we have different geography. You are in the Caucasus. We are in central eastern Europe, but those ambitions of the neighbors are basically in their nature the same. And we are working indeed, as a very influential member of the European Union, to help Armenia to fulfill this dream of joining Western institutions, of advancing on the path in which Poland advanced 20-25 years ago, when we joined the EU. And these two days, my consultations with my counterpart, Mr. Kostanyan, in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but also with the Madame Chief of the Cabinet of Prime Minister and the Speaker of the Parliament of Armenia, assured me that we really speak the same language. And Poland is absolutely eager to help in many dimensions, also economic one, Armenia to become even more sovereign and stable and successful country.

Armenpress: How can this strong political foundation translate into deeper cooperation in trade, investment, infrastructure, science, education, culture, and people-to-people ties?

Bosacki: This is our task. This is our responsibility, and we are doing it. I mean, the level of ministries, the level of deputy ministers, the level of heads of departments. But this is not only between administrations. This is not only between governments. Yes, I held, as I told you, very substantial consultations with your very distinguished institutions and ministers, but we also brought to this two-day trip to Yerevan big economic business delegation consisting of 15 representatives of the biggest Polish companies, from mining to IT and from space industry to agriculture. And they already met with their counterparts from Armenia. They are eager to invest. They are eager to make good trade deals, including importing Armenian food products, especially fruits and vegetables, which are so tasty here. And I can tell you that the tomatoes or peaches are really exceptional. I didn't try apricots yet. I hope I will. But to be frank, but also to be serious, politicians, diplomats, can only open the doors for business, and they need to cross these doors and cooperate. But from what I'm hearing today and yesterday, there are many possible deals brewing between Poland and Armenia business communities.

Armenpress: Economic cooperation is an important part of the bilateral agenda. What do you see as the biggest obstacles and opportunities for expanding trade and investment between Armenia and Poland?

Bosacki: There are two obstacles, but opportunities are even bigger. European Union is a huge market for you. 460 million people, rich people, relatively speaking in terms of the world. And Armenia has some advantages from IT business and gaming even to agriculture, which fit quite nicely into European market. So, this is the big opportunity, and probably you need to diversify your economic ties and directions of export. So, European Union countries like Poland is a natural choice, but yes, there are two challenges, obstacles. One is institutional, you know, European Union in its core is a free trade zone, which means we really trade freely, without any barriers between ourselves between twenty-seven members of the European Union, but we do have barriers for others. So, to remove, or at least ease those areas is very important for Armenia, and we are in talks of that. Some of that already happened, like Poland imported one thousand tons of Armenian fruits this year, and temporarily this market was open for you in the scope of European Union. But we need to have trade deals, maybe pre-accession deals. When you become a candidate for EU, if you become, then it will be much easier to open those doors for you, with the benefit of your producers, not only agricultural producers, but also industrial producers. And the second challenge is just geography. Armenia is quite far away, so the routes, especially with two wars brewing, one is in Ukraine, Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine, and another one is the conflict between U.S. and Iran. The routes of transport to Europe are not easy, but we will manage to open them and to increase. I firmly believe the export of Armenian goods to European Union.

Armenpress: Defense and security cooperation has become a new dimension of bilateral ties, including the recent Military-Technical cooperation agreement. Where do you see the greatest potential for practical cooperation in this area?

Bosacki: In many areas. Yes, in many dimensions of this, yes, really recently opened an area, because just last May, our respective Ministers of Defense signed this agreement on cooperation in this sphere between Poland and Armenia. You know, Polish defense industry is an expert in transitioning of Soviet or post-Soviet armory into NATO standards, into Western standards. So, we can help you with that if you wish so. Another one is that those two wars, Russian war in Ukraine, and between U.S. And Iran, really emptied the magazines for ammunition, from very simple one to the very developed anti-air and anti-ballistic missiles. We can help produce more of it in cooperation between Armenian and Polish industries, and those talks are already between our two countries.

Armenpress: Poland has consistently supported Armenia's European path. How far can this process realistically go, and what role can Poland play in Armenia's closer integration with the EU?

Bosacki: It can go as far as Armenia wants. So, according the recent declarations of your Prime Minister, His Excellency Mr. Pashinyan, the ambition is being a member. It won't happen overnight, but it is possible. Absolutely, this is possible, and Poland can help in two dimensions. One, as an influential member of EU, we can support you in your ambitions, whatever they are. If they are, you know, to increase trade and create a free trade agreement with European Union, we can help with it. If it's membership, we can help with those ambitious goals. But there is also another dimension, which actually we started today. Poland was a candidate country not a long time ago. Poland joined EU twenty-two years ago. So, twenty-three years ago, twenty-five years ago, twenty-seven years ago, we were a candidate country, and we know how to prepare for cooperation and possibly membership with European Union, and then how to negotiate with European Union. And I'm so proud that today with Deputy Minister Vahan Kostanyan, we opened the training of your diplomatic corps by Polish diplomats and experts who were active in those talks and negotiations with European Union when Poland wanted to join, 23, 25 years ago.

Armenpress: So, what lessons from Poland's transformation and European integration could be most relevant for Armenia today?

Bosacki: There is one lesson. It is worth to be in this club. Thirty-five years ago, just after Poland, as one of the first actually as the very first country got rid of communism in 1989, Polish economic situation and Polish economic development was on par with Ukraine's. Now we are at least three times richer than Ukraine in terms of GDP per capita, purchasing power and we grew into the sixth biggest economy in the EU, twentieth economy in the world. And we are almost fifty percent richer than we would have been, if we were not members of EU. Polish economic success is magnificent. We didn't have a year of recession since 1991. The only year of recession was the year of COVID, 2020, but that was global. And Poles really are five to six times richer than they were a generation ago. It is not always easy. The first years are not easy of economic reforms and the preparations for joining EU, but the benefits for a hardworking, energetic, full of entrepreneurs country like Poland is, those benefits are enormous, and I firmly believe that Armenia will follow Polish path, because you are also a very energetic, very ambitious. And full of entrepreneurs, nation and country.

Armenpress: As Armenia advances peace with Azerbaijan and normalization with Türkiye, how does Poland view Armenia's evolving role in the South Caucasus and its potential contribution to the regional cooperation and connectivity?

Bosacki: Poland has been and is supporting peace and stabilization of South Caucasus region. We do support TRIPP project, we do support the reconciliation agenda between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and we strongly encourage our Turkish friends to normalize relations with your great country of Armenia, because we really believe that the world, based on peace and democratic values, and the protection of sovereignty of each particular country, is the world in which economy is booming, people are safer and more happy, and the world is more stable. And therefore, we do wish Armenia all the best on your decisions to diversify, both economically and politically, your future. And we not only wish, but we will help how much you want us to help.