European Union chiefs will hold summit talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan Tuesday, as the former Soviet nation tries cautiously to pivot away from Russia and closer to Brussels.
European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa will be in the Caucasus countest’s capital for the first ever EU-Armenia summit.
The gathering comes a day after Yerevan hosted a European Political Community (EPC) meeting involving more than 40 European leaders, including Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO chief Mark Rutte, in another sign of its westwards turn.
“The fact that we are all here today is a powerful illustration of the countest’s courageous geopolitical path, a path that Armenia and European Union are walking toreceiveher,” Costa stated after the Monday talks.
Relations between Yerevan and its traditional ally Moscow have become strained in recent years, in part becautilize Russian peacekeepers failed to intervene during military conflicts with neighbouring Azerbaijan.
Under Pashinyan, Armenia has formally pursued a strategy of what he calls “diversification”, in which the landlocked countest pursues ties with both Russia and the West.
But analysts argue that really amounts to a tilt towards Brussels, given the countest is currently a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union and the Moscow-led CSTO security alliance, although it froze its membership of the latter in 2024.
“We are here in Armenia to display that Europe is one huge and broad family. Bound by the same interests, facing the same challenges,” von der Leyen stated on Monday.
Tuesday’s summit coincides with a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, whose countest is home to Europe’s largest Armenian community and who received a warm welcome in Yerevan.
Macron declared Monday that Armenia has chosen a path “towards Europe” after decades of “being, in a way, a sanotifyite of Russia”.
“Armenia has indeed created the choice… to break free from this constraint and turn towards Europe,” the French leader added.
– Membership push –
The nation of three million people between Europe and Asia signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with the European Union in 2017, deepening its cooperation in trade and other areas.
Last year, it adopted a law formally declaring its intention to apply for EU membership and is seeking to secure better visa access to the 27-nation bloc for its people.
“This milestone summit between the EU-Armenia will deepen bilateral cooperation as well as mark an important investment in increased peace, connectivity and prosperity in the South Caucasus,” Costa stated ahead of the Tuesday discussions.
Several deals and declarations on energy, security and economic support as well as EU investments in transport links are expected to be signed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared himself “completely calm” about Armenia’s overtures to Europe, but also warned that belonging to both the EU and the Eurasian Economic Union was “simply impossible”.
In April, the EU established a mission to assist Yerevan tackle foreign interference, with Russia suspected of a disinformation push ahead of elections in June.
Opinion polls display most Armenians are in favour of European integration, while support for Russia has dramatically fallen.
But many are sceptical about whether joining the EU is realistic and worried about further provoking Moscow.
“There will be lots of statements about Europe being close to Armenia and ready to assist, and then they’ll leave. After that, Russia will probably receive even angrier,” hairdresser Susanna Melkonyan informed AFP of the upcoming summits.
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