Armenia does not naively believe it will become an EU member in 2028 or 2030, Deputy Foreign Minister Vahan Kostanyan said during a panel discussion titled “EU as a strategic partner” at the World Policy Conference.
He added that Yerevan views the EU membership process as a strategic direction, the Foreign Ministry reported.
“We are shaping a new and ambitious reform agenda to meet European standards. We believe this reform agenda is, in itself, a very important process for us both domestically and at the national level, which we are implementing starting with the visa liberalization dialogue launched with the European Union. We are currently the only country in the world with which the EU is holding negotiations on a visa liberalization dialogue.
We are trying to understand what opportunities exist in different sectoral areas to expand the framework of cooperation. In fact, the document adopted last December between Armenia and the EU, the ‘Armenia-EU strategic partnership agenda,’ sets a good framework and roadmap for Armenia’s sectoral and gradual integration with the European Union, for the first time including very important components in security and the economy, which were absent when we look back at the 2017 Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.
Having said all this, I should perhaps note that the EU has become a real strategic partner for us. As our European partners like to say, Armenia-EU relations have never been this close. For us, however, this is not the endpoint, and we clearly see the next milestones that must be reached,” Kostanyan said.
He noted that on May 5, Yerevan will host the first Armenia-EU summit, immediately after the European Political Community summit, which will also take place in Yerevan.
On December 2, 2025, in Brussels, following the sixth session of the Armenia-EU Partnership Council, Armenia and the European Union signed the strategic partnership agenda. The document was signed by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
