It is important to correctly understand the essence and context of this matter. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the government Cabinet meeting Thursday, during the discussion of the draft law of Armenia on the start of the process of Armenia's accession to the European Union (EU).

"In the fall of 2023, I gave a speech in the European Parliament, the main message of which was that Armenia is ready to be as close to the EU as the EU considers it possible. At that time, it was the speech that aroused the greatest interest in Armenia; the reaction of the citizens of Armenia to that speech was unprecedented. Secondly, what happened after that? On April 5, 2024, an Armenia-US-EU trilateral meeting took place at the initiative of the EU, which was widely covered. It was a meeting held in an unprecedented format.

After that, a political, civil initiative [on EU accession] was formed [in Armenia] which, having collected 50,000 signatures [in the country], submitted the legislative initiative in accordance with the procedure established by the constitution of Armenia.

The [respective] position of the de jure [Armenian] government is that the government does not object to the adoption of this law. But I want to record also what this means. This does not mean Armenia's membership in the European Union in the literal sense of the word because to reach that point, or making a decision on that point, cannot be at the level of a law or even a government decision. Making a decision on that point can only be done through a referendum, there is no other option," Pashinyan stated.

According to him, in any of the scenarios, Armenia can become a member of the EU only if a referendum is called and the specified number of “for” votes will be received by the participants of the referendum in accordance with the procedure provided by the constitution of Armenia.

"But it should also be recorded that in the case of the adoption of this law, we should have a certain idea of actions—up to the point of whether or not to hold a potential referendum. My idea is that after the adoption of this law, we should discuss with the EU the roadmap that they imagine and the one we imagine; we should develop a roadmap together," said the Armenian premier.