Klaar on Armenia's EU Membership Prospects

The strengthening of relations between the European Union and Armenia is in the interests of both the EU and Armenia. This was stated by Toivo Klaar, the EU's Special Representative for the South Caucasus, in an interview with Azatutyun, addressing the question of whether Armenia could find its place in the EU community and consider itself an EU member in the foreseeable future.

“How these relations will evolve, we will have to wait and see. Again, I believe that compared to just a few years ago, relations between the EU and Armenia have significantly developed. But where we will find ourselves in our relations, I think it is still too early to say. This depends on political decisions made in Yerevan. It also depends on political decisions made in Brussels and among member states. This is a process in which Armenia has only just begun to reach certain elements, where we could have been a bit further along 10 years ago, but at that time, of course, Armenia chose differently. So, we may be losing time in our relations,” the EU special representative stated.

When asked if Armenia's membership in the CSTO complicates this, Klaar did not respond directly. “I think right now we need to look at what the Armenian authorities and the Armenian people want to do, where they want to go, and how they see the development of our relations best. And again, I believe that it is good that we see a real strengthening of EU-Armenia relations during last week’s meeting, and the United States is there to help support Armenia’s resilience. That was a very important message, which I believe President von der Leyen conveyed to Prime Minister Pashinyan,” he noted.

The meeting between Pashinyan, Blinken, and von der Leyen took place in Brussels on April 5. At the start of the negotiations, the President of the European Commission announced that Brussels would provide an additional €270 million to support Armenia over the next four years for small and medium-sized businesses and infrastructure development. The U.S. Secretary of State also announced additional assistance, which in this case is several times less than the European support, amounting to $65 million. The Prime Minister of Armenia expressed gratitude for this ongoing commitment, emphasizing that Armenia is eager to continue reforms and strengthen its relations with the West.