“Countries have the right to strive for a better future for their people,” the official, Peter Stano, told Russia’s Izvestia daily. “They are free to decide how to achieve such a future. As for EU membership, each European country -- its people and government -- must decide whether they want to apply for EU membership.”
Stano indicated that the 27-nation bloc would therefore consider a possible membership bid from Armenia “on the basis of EU treaties and set criteria.”
Two senior Armenian officials floated the idea of submitting such an application in recent weeks amid a continuing deterioration of Armenia’s relations with Russia, its longtime ally. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian twice discussed the idea with parliament deputies from his Civil Contract party last week.
Pashinian has yet to publicly clarify whether he will seek EU membership. But he did welcome on Thursday a European Parliament resolution that seems to encourage Yerevan to do so.
The resolution adopted on Wednesday says that “should Armenia be interested in applying for candidate status and continuing on its path of sustained reforms consolidating its democracy, this could set the stage for a transformative phase in EU-Armenia relations.”
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan was coy about the possibility of a membership bid when he spoke to journalists on Friday. “When Armenia has an intention to apply for EU membership, you will be the first to know about it,” he said.
Russia has yet to officially comment on such a prospect. Konstantin Zatulin, a senior Russian lawmaker, claimed on Thursday that the EU is not serious about considering admitting Armenia and is only toying with the idea to speed up the South Caucasus country’s ongoing “reorientation from Russia to the West.”
Zatulin told the Russian radio station Govorit Moskva that Brussels specifically hopes to get Armenia to “reconsider” its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union, a Russian-led trade bloc.