The Armenian government has approved a bill to start the process of Armenia's accession to the European Union, Radio Azatutyun reports, UNN writes.
Details
The keynote speaker, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, said that the draft was presented to the National Assembly (Parliament) for discussion as a civic initiative and now the government must express its position in accordance with the established procedure.
Mirzoyan proposed to express a "positive position" based on the dynamic and developing relations between the Republic of Armenia and the European Union in recent years.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized at a government meeting that the adoption of the bill does not mean membership in the European Union. According to him, a referendum on this issue should be held.
"According to our Constitution, the decision to join the European Union or the supranational organization as a whole can only be made through our referendum," he said. - "In other words, under any of the scenarios, the Republic of Armenia can become a member of the European Union only if, from the point of view of the Republic of Armenia, a referendum is held and the required number of votes is obtained.
According to Pashinyan, before holding a referendum, Armenia should discuss the issue of membership with the EU.
"After the adoption of this law, we have to discuss with the European Union the roadmap they envision and the roadmap we envision, and we have to develop a roadmap together," the Prime Minister said.
The draft law is authored by members of the pro-Western initiative Eurovote. So far, they have collected 60,000 signatures instead of the required 50,000 to submit the draft to the National Assembly.
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