Armenian Parliament Approves Bill to Begin EU Membership Process

YEREVAN — Armenia’s National Assembly has overwhelmingly  approved the bill marking the launch of the country’s process to join the European Union.

Reportedly the shortest piece of legislation in Armenia’s history, the bill consists of just one sentence—25 words long—read aloud in full by Arman Yeghoyan, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration.

“The Republic of Armenia, aiming to develop democratic institutions, improve public welfare, strengthen national security, resilience, and the rule of law, declares the start of the process of accession to the European Union,” Yeghoyan stated.

Virtually all of the 64 parliament deputies who voted for the bill are members of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. Their parliamentary leader, Hayk Konjorian, said Armenia is thus trying to “diversify its policies and strengthen its security.”

The initiative was brought to Parliament by the “EuroVote” civil campaign, which had previously gathered enough signatures to bring the proposal to legislative discussion. Artak Zeynalyan, a representative of the initiative, said the required number of signatures was collected in record time—twice the necessary amount had already been gathered halfway through the deadline. Based on surveys they conducted, Zeynalyan added, it is clear that a majority of Armenian citizens support moving toward EU membership.

However, between the bill’s first and second readings, the phrase “expressing the will of the people” was removed. According to Yeghoyan, the government believed this wording was inappropriate, as no referendum on the matter had been held.

“Sixty thousand citizens submitted this proposal. We could either accept or reject it, but if we accept it, it wouldn’t be correct to claim it represents the will of the entire population—there’s a different mechanism for that: a referendum,” Yeghoyan explained. “Since the matter hasn’t been decided through a referendum, that specific phrase was removed.”

The opposition “Hayastan” (Armenia) faction announced they would not participate in the vote, criticizing the process as a reckless move by the ruling majority and dismissing the bill itself as mere political posturing.