Most likely, Armenian parliament will pass bill on launching EU  accession process - Pashinyan

ArmInfo. There is a high probability that the Armenian parliament will adopt the bill  to launch the EU accession process, which would legally mean that the Republic of Armenia is starting the process of even closer rapprochement with the European Union. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the panel discussion "How to spread Europe's influence" during the Davos Economic Forum on January 23.

"Why do we want to be closer to the European Union? Because we are a  democracy, and when you are a democracy, you want to be closer or in  the mainstream of democracy, as otherwise it would be illogical.  Now  we are cooperating very closely with the EU. To be honest, colossal  changes and events have taken place in our relations in recent years.  For example, we have just started negotiations on the visa  liberalization agreement, which has been on our agenda for many  years, but we couldn't even start negotiations. And I hope that we  will be able to finish and sign it as soon as possible," he said.  He  noted that currently Armenia is included in the European Peace  Facility.  The fact that the European Civil Mission is now in Armenia  is also very important and Armenia is in the process of implementing  the EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.

According to the Armenian Prime Minister, Yerevan wants to be closer  to the EU economically as well.  "But on the other hand, we also want  to be economically closer to the countries of our region, because,  unfortunately, since the beginning of our independence, we were in  economic isolation, because our borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan  have been closed and are closed.  And in order to overcome supply  chain changes not only in our region but also in the whole world, we  have put forward our proposal called <Crossroads of Peace>, which I  hope you are familiar with. This project is aimed at increasing the  efficiency of our regional transport and communication routes,   creating new communication routes not only with Azerbaijan but also  with Turkey, and deepening our relations with Georgia and Iran. This  is about the European Union also, because if this project becomes a  reality, we will have a new chain route through Armenia to the  European Union. It is not only a matter of economy, it is also a very  important security factor, as you just mentioned interdependence as a  very important factor for global stability and security. But, of  course, this project will work if we can establish a stable peace  with Azerbaijan, which, unfortunately, is not the case now,"  Pashinyan stated.