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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he saw signs that there might be strong political will within the European Union for enlargement, meaning Armenia’s and the EU’s expectations could align.
Pashinyan was speaking at the EU Enlargement Summit 2026, organised by Euronews, in response to a question about where Armenia currently stood on the path towards possible EU membership.
“In March 2025, we adopted a law on launching the process of joining the European Union, and that law is now in force in Armenia. Our initial intention was to create an alternative for Armenia and the Armenian people because, traditionally, the perception in our society and perhaps in our neighbourhood has been that Armenia has no alternative. It is a very difficult and rather uncomfortable situation when there is a general perception that someone has no alternative. So our first goal is to create an alternative for our country and our people.
“But, you know, we have recently been hearing some good news from the EU. Before that, there was uncertainty over whether the European Union wanted to enlarge, but now we see certain signs that there may be strong political will within the EU for enlargement, which means Armenia’s and the European Union’s expectations could align. That is my assessment of the current situation,” the Armenian Prime Minister said.
He added that there was another reason for the decision to move towards the European Union.
“Our policy towards Europe is also very important because we want to protect our democracy, deepen our democratic reforms and make our democracy sustainable and institutionalised,” he said.
Pashinyan stressed that throughout Armenia’s independence, the EU had been one of its main partners in implementing its democratic reform agenda.
“If you are a democratic country, you want to be in a democratic club because there are many things to discuss, learn, decide and share,” he said.
Asked when Armenia intended to apply for EU membership, Pashinyan replied: “That is a very good question, and we were discussing it with our European partners today. We have also discussed this possibility internally. It is very important to us that we do not simply take a technical step and say that we have pressed the ‘send’ button and submitted the application. It is very important that this entire process is accompanied by political dialogue on this important issue. Of course, we are interested in these discussions. Our cooperation with the European Union has been deepening over recent years, and that is very good. And, to be honest, I have no doubt that the time will come, and it is not far off.”
Asked about a possible timeframe for Armenia to submit an EU membership application, the Prime Minister said:
“I think next year could be realistic, and 2028 could also be realistic. But we are currently focused on the visa liberalisation dialogue. Our target is to achieve visa liberalisation in 2029. That would be another very important milestone in the development of our relations with the European Union. We can say that we have now begun a process that will lead us to a final decision to apply for full membership of the European Union. It is very important that both Armenian and European officials agree on one very important point: relations between Armenia and the European Union are at their highest level ever.”