News - Armenia to submit application for EU membership?

The dynamics that we have in Armenia-EU relations can be described as unprecedented, and positive developments in these directions will enable also to move forward and talk about more ambitious agendas. Vahan Kostanyan, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, said this on the air of the RFE/RL Armenian Service—and answering the question whether or not Armenia will submit an application for EU membership. "I believe that this statement which was adopted by the European Parliament [of the EU] was the direct response to the [Armenian] Prime Minister's speech at the European Parliament months ago, in which, in essence, the Armenian government announced that it is ready to deepen relations with the EU as much as the EU itself will consider it possible. And we have seen in recent months that the cooperation agenda has expanded quite a bit, and we know that the EU monitoring mission has been stationed in Armenia for more than a year [now]. At the moment, discussions are underway between Armenia and the EU regarding visa liberalization, Armenia's access to Europe's Peace Facility, easier access of Armenian products to the European market," said Kostanyan. He noted, however, that it is still too early to talk about discussing this matter in the Armenian parliament and public discussions need to be held to figure out both the positive and negative aspects. "Any of our decisions, sovereign decisions that will be made, they will be made to strengthen Armenia's independence, democracy, sovereignty, and this should not be considered in the context of conflicts with one or another geopolitical poles," said the deputy minister of foreign affairs of Armenia.