Ararat Mirzoyan on joining EU, NATO membership: Armenian people have  European aspirations

ArmInfo.Armenia is actively discussing the idea of joining the EU, said the head of the Armenian  Foreign Ministry Ararat Mirzoyan in an interview with the Turkish TRT World.

As Mirzoyan noted, the region, including Armenia, is undergoing  serious transformations. "This is also an internal process for us.  The people of Armenia have chosen the democratic path of building  public life, we have repeatedly proven this choice through elections,  as well as the development of democratic institutions.  And along  this path, we see that the European Union and the United States  actively support our democratic reforms and institutional changes. In  general, it is important to diversify as much as possible, to expand  the circle of partners and allies. This is how we are moving forward,  significantly deepening our relations with the EU, the USA, while  maintaining traditional ties or, for example, also looking to the  East," he said, adding that RA is building completely new  high-quality relations with India and other countries.  At the same  time, the Minister pointed out, the development of relations with  neighboring countries is a priority for Armenia. "This is a brief  description of our foreign policy," he noted.

When asked whether Armenia has thought about joining the EU or NATO  membership, Ararat Mirzoyan replied: "Especially, bearing in mind all  the challenges that we have faced in the last 3-4 years, new  opportunities are being actively discussed in Armenia. I won't reveal  a secret if I say that the idea of joining the EU is also on this  list. The people of Armenia have European aspirations, and as I said,  we are going through this process and we will see what the end of  this process will be, which at the moment no one can be sure or make  predictions".

Assessing the current stage of relations with two Western countries -  the USA and France, and their support, the Foreign Minister noted  that today there are new opportunities for cooperation with these  countries. "We have a strategic dialogue with the United States,  within which we are exploring new directions. I can say the same  about the European Union. We have a Comprehensive and Enhanced  Partnership Agreement with the EU, but we look beyond that agreement.  We are discussing liberalization of the visa regime, some new  mechanisms that can be used in our relations. I would also like to  add that for the first time in history, the European Union was  involved in security issues in our region. You know that there is an  EU observer mission in Armenia that monitors the border between  Armenia and Azerbaijan; It is also important to note that since the  deployment of the mission, tensions on the border have decreased and  we have seen that the mission has contributed to stability. Thus, we  are including new directions, new areas in our partnership, and we  are still halfway through the process," Mirzoyan said.

According to some media sources, at the beginning of March this year,  Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated at a closed meeting with the  Civil Contract faction that Armenia should apply to join the EU no  later than the fall of this year. It was noted that the prime  minister made it clear to his associates that the West demands from  Armenia practical steps to distance itself from Russia and oust it  from the region. In this situation, Armenia has no choice but to  fulfill these demands, because "Russia has turned its back on us for  a long time."