Alexander Pracht
Armenia may formally apply to join the European Union next year or in 2028, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Tuesday.
“Next year can be realistic; 2028 can be realistic,” Pashinyan said at the EU Enlargement Summit, organized by the Euronews publication and attended by several heads of state.
However, Pashinyan said Armenia’s path toward EU membership depends on Georgia’s progress toward the same goal.
Asked by Euronews to identify one key commitment related to EU accession, Pashinyan replied: “To support Georgia. For Armenia, Georgia’s success is extremely important.”
Speaking before the European Parliament in March, Pashinyan said the breakdown of political dialogue between Georgia and the European Union posed a serious challenge to Armenia’s integration with the bloc.
“I have to say frankly that the biggest problem on Armenia’s EU integration path at the moment is the suspension of political dialogue between the EU and Georgia. For us, Georgia is a link to the European Union,” Pashinyan said. “We would very much desire that this constructive dialogue resume. It is just as important for Armenia as for Georgia.”
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze also attended Tuesday’s summit. Speaking to CivilNet, he praised Pashinyan’s support for Georgia.
“We highly value Mr. Pashinyan’s support; he is an excellent leader and a wonderful friend to Georgia. It is important for us to stand together in defending our national interests. [...] It makes sense that Armenia’s path depends on Georgia’s progress,” Kobakhidze said.
Georgia was granted EU candidate status in 2023, but Tbilisi’s relations with the bloc have deteriorated sharply since then. Brussels has repeatedly criticized Georgia’s government, which was reelected in 2024, over democratic backsliding. The government has faced widespread criticism for its crackdown on protesters and its increasingly pro-Russian political course.
Armenia adopted a non-binding law last year, known as the EU Integration Act, which declared Yerevan’s aspiration to become a member within an unspecified timeframe.
The EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said last year that “for any country to apply for membership in the European Union, there are two conditions: it must be a sovereign state and be in Europe.” In a separate interview, she added: “Armenia is European.”
The European Union, created in its current form in 1993, last admitted a new member in 2013, when Croatia joined.
Speaking with CivilNet last September, Kos explained that for about a decade after Croatia’s accession, the EU had been reluctant to admit new members, but that the situation has now changed.
“Twenty-three of the 27 EU members are supportive of enlargement. [...] The [potential] expansion is not about gaining more square kilometers or more people, but about ensuring peace, freedom, and prosperity,” she said.
Also read: EU commissioner: ‘Helping Armenia on its European path is our responsibility’
The path to full EU membership from a formal application takes nine years on average, but can take as long as 14 years, as was the case with Malta and Cyprus.
Current candidates for membership include Armenia’s northern neighbor Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as Albania and the former Yugoslav countries that have yet to join the bloc. Montenegro is considered the closest to becoming a full member.
To join the European Union, a country needs to satisfy extensive requirements known as the Copenhagen criteria. These include, among other things, stable democratic institutions, the rule of law, human rights, respect for and protection of minorities, and a functioning market economy. These adjustments are made by candidate countries through negotiations with Brussels.
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