Armenian premier grateful to EU for including Armenia in its aviation  blacklist 

ArmInfo. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is grateful to the EU for including Armenia on the Union's aviation blacklist. "If it weren't for this blacklist, Armenia wouldn't have any problems and wouldn't be facing this  issue," he noted on the sidelines of the 15th Security Forum "Armenia  and the World at the Crossroads of Risks and Opportunities."

According to Pashinyan, the government is currently being criticized  for the fact that, "while enjoying good relations with the EU," it is  unable to resolve the issue of Armenia's removal from the EU aviation  blacklist with Brussels. "Perhaps you're using the wrong approaches?"  they tell us.

Meanwhile, the head of the cabinet is convinced, the issue is simply  a matter of revising standards.  Specifically, we need to work  differently, "since the Soviet-era thinking of doing something to get  something" no longer works. "In Armenia, we have concepts like  'classmate,' 'army friend,' 'godparents,' 'in- law,' and so on. But  the European standard is precisely this: the plane must take off and  land-a simple truth, and for that to happen, there must be certain  indicators indicating that the plane will take off and land.  So the  problem is with us, not the EU," the prime minister said.

Armenia has been included on the European aviation safety "blacklist"  since 2020. During a visit to Armenia in 2019, experts from the  European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) identified aviation safety  issues, following which a decision was made to include Armenia on the  "blacklist." In March 2025, Deputy Minister of Territorial  Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia Kristine Ghalechyan  announced that Armenia had submitted an application to the European  Union to be removed from the aviation industry "blacklist" and was  awaiting a response. Minister of Territorial Administration and  Infrastructure of the Republic of Armenia Davit Khudatyan, in turn,  stated that most of the shortcomings and issues that led to Armenian  airlines being placed on the EU "blacklist" have already been  addressed. In December 2025, EU High Commissioner for Enlargement  Marta Kos stated that maintaining Armenian airlines on the EU's  aviation safety "blacklist" is a purely technical, not a political,  issue.