BRUSSELS, 13 March Members of the European Parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution calling for strengthening EU relations with Armenia, and also invited Armenia to consider applying to become a candidate for the European Union.
“The EP believes that if Armenia is interested in applying for EU candidate status and continues on a path of consistent reforms that strengthen its democracy, this could pave the way for a transformation in EU-Armenia relations,” the document states.
The deputies also emphasized that the European Commission and the Council of the EU should “actively support Armenia’s desire to expand cooperation with the EU not only in the field of economic partnership, but also in the field of political dialogue, people-to-people contacts, sectoral integration and security cooperation.”
The EP also recognized that “Russia’s influence on the Armenian economy remains significant” and called on Yerevan to “be vigilant regarding possible circumvention of sanctions.” The deputies also promised assistance from the EU “to mitigate the negative consequences” in case, according to them, Russia allegedly tries to “punish Armenia for its independent political and strategic choices.”
At the end of February, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan, answering a question from journalists about Yerevan’s readiness to deepen relations with the EU and obtain the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union, said that the country would move in the direction that would provide it with maximum security. Later — already in March — the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Ararat Mirzoyan, in an interview with the Turkish television company TRT World, said that the idea of joining the EU is among a number of issues actively discussed by Armenia.
The Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan directly stated that Armenia will leave the CSTO if the organization does not answer the questions raised by Yerevan regarding the sovereign territory of the country. Against this background, the European Parliament on Wednesday, March 13, called on the EU to increase cooperation with Armenia in defense and security.
Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova reported that the Foreign Ministry considers the statements of the Armenian leadership regarding the CSTO to be ultimatum and offensive rhetoric, while Moscow does not question the sovereign right of each country to choose its own alliances.