At its session Wednesday, the National Assembly (NA) passed in first reading the draft law on starting Armenia's membership process in the European Union (EU).

A total of 63 MPs voted in favor of this bill, with only 7 against.

The opposition "Armenia" Faction of the NA had announced that it will not participate in this voting, the ruling majority "Civil Contract" Faction had announced that it will vote in favor of this bill, while the opposition "With Honor" Faction had announced that it will vote against it.

The initiator of this bill is the Platform of Democratic Forces civic initiative, which had managed to collect 60 thousand signatures—at least 50 thousand signatures are required by law—in two months. These signatures were necessary for this bill to be submitted for consideration by the NA.

The draft was approved by the Armenian government on January 9, 2024.

The draft law states that Armenia, expressing the will of its people, setting the task of making Armenia a safe, secure, developed and prosperous country, announces the start of the process of Armenia's accession to the EU.