Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed reservations on Monday about the idea of a referendum on Armenia’s membership in the European Union, which has been suggested by his political allies.
He stated that the Armenian government needs to clarify whether the EU is willing to admit the South Caucasus country before holding such a vote.
Pashinyan’s political team reintroduced the issue to the political agenda late last month amid the ongoing deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations. They organized a parliamentary hearing in Yerevan, featuring leaders of pro-Western fringe groups loyal to the prime minister. These groups urged the government to hold the referendum within the next three months.
Parliament speaker Alen Simonian, a key ally of Pashinyan, predicted on June 26 that the vote would take place “sometime in the near future.”
“If we hold a referendum today, we need to campaign,” Pashinyan said at a conference in Yerevan. “When we campaign, people will ask us whether the EU wants that or not. They will tell me: ‘You declared that Armenia is ready to be as close to the EU as the EU is ready. Now how ready is the EU?’ Can I answer that question today? No, I can’t.”
Pashinyan also mentioned that the outcome of recent elections in the EU and some of its member states raises more questions about the wisdom of applying for membership in the 27-nation bloc. He appeared to refer to the strong showing of far-right Euroskeptic parties in those elections.
In a nonbinding resolution adopted in March, the European Parliament seemed to encourage Yerevan to make a membership bid. However, no EU government has expressed support for such a prospect.
Armenian opposition figures argue that Armenia has almost no chance of being admitted to the EU. They claim that Pashinyan wants to use the issue to deceive Armenians into supporting his appeasement policy towards Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan’s administration is also facing warnings from Russia, Armenia’s main trading partner and supplier of natural gas. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said last week that Armenia would lose tariff-free access to the Russian market and other economic privileges granted by Moscow if its government pursues EU membership.
