Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has signed a decree to establish a Department for European Integration within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. The new unit will be separated from the Ministry’s existing European Department and will serve as one of its core professional divisions.
In a related move, the Department of Political Planning will be merged with the Department for Coordination of Diplomatic Functions.
On March 26, the Armenian National Assembly approved, in the second and final reading, a draft law initiating the process of accession to the European Union. The draft was originally approved by the government on January 9, following a proposal by the civil initiative Eurovote.
Although the EU has not yet extended a formal invitation for Armenia to begin accession talks, the Armenian President has signed the law. Opposition parties have criticized the bill, calling it legally absurd.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk has also commented, stating that Armenia "cannot sit on two chairs" and will eventually have to choose between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union.
