Armenian President Signs Law to Begin EU Accession Process

Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan has signed a law to officially initiate the country's accession process to the European Union, according to a statement from the presidential office.

"On July 4, President Vahagn Khachaturyam signed a law to start the process of Armenia’s accession to the EU," the statement reads, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

On March 26, Armenian legislators passed the second and final reading of the law on setting the country’s EU accession process into motion. Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan pointed out that a referendum needs to be held to decide on launching EU accession. Armenian Foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan, in turn, explained that the bill was based on a public initiative, which had gathered a required number of signatures.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk stated that Moscow saw Armenian discussions of the bill on EU membership as the start of the country’s withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). According to him, Armenia cannot be a member of both the EU and the EAEU. Meanwhile, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan claimed that Yerevan had no plans to pull out of the EAEU. He said that Armenia needed to maintain, develop and increase the level of relations with the organization, as well as to boost ties with other groups.