Armenian Parliament adopts bill on Armenia's EU membership
YEREVAN, March 26. /ARKA/. On Wednesday, during a regular session, the National Assembly of Armenia approved in the second reading the draft law to begin the process of the country’s membership in the European Union.
As stated by Artak Zeynalyan, the authorized representative of the initiative group, recent months have seen clear and unequivocal signals from officials and parliamentarians from various European capitals and institutions in support of launching the process of Armenia’s EU membership.
"The preface of the document states: 'Armenia, with the goal of developing democratic institutions, improving the welfare of society, strengthening the country's security, sustainability, and the rule of law, announces the start of the EU membership process,'" Zeynalyan noted.
The head of the European Integration Commission, Arman Yeghoyan, in turn, stated that at the moment, there is no provision for filing an application for EU membership; this bill simply expresses the will of the Armenian people.
Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan mentioned that a new partnership agenda is planned to be approved in the coming months, which includes short-term, medium-term, and long-term actions aimed at further rapprochement with the European Union.
The parliamentary opposition did not participate in the vote and called the bill a "mockery."
On February 12, the National Assembly of Armenia approved the bill on the beginning of the country’s EU accession process in the first reading. On March 3, the NA Committee on European Integration postponed the discussion of this bill in the second reading for technical reasons. On March 24, the draft law received a positive conclusion at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on European integration.
