Armenia does not intend to use blackmail as a tool to secure membership in the European Union, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during the 8th bilateral meeting of the Armenia–EU Civil Society Platform.
“Yes, we have adopted a law on launching the process of Armenia’s accession to the EU. At the same time, our strategy is that we are not going to use blackmail tools, saying that since we adopted the law, you must accept us into the EU within a month,” he said, Sputnik Armenia reports.
Pashinyan added that a “zero nerves” approach should be maintained during the integration process.
“If the European Union decides to accept us, that is very good; if it does not, we will still come out as winners, because we will become a modern country aligned with the best standards,” he noted.
On March 26, Armenia’s National Assembly adopted in the second and final reading a bill on launching the process of joining the European Union, which has drawn mixed reactions.
Commenting on the decision, the Kremlin stated that it is impossible to simultaneously be a member of both the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said the EU and the EAEU are incompatible, describing the discussion of the bill as the beginning of Armenia’s exit from the EAEU and comparing it to “buying a ticket to the Titanic.”
