Pashinyan: Armenia refuses to hold a referendum on EU membership

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Bishkek said that by adopting the law on joining the EU, the republic has already refused to hold a referendum.

"To be honest, the adoption of the law already meant abandoning the idea of a referendum, because if the parliament had not adopted this law then, I want to remind you that this law was initiated by civil society, that is, they collected signatures of Armenian citizens, according to the constitution there is such an opportunity, and submitted this draft to parliament. If the parliament did not adopt this law, then the initiators could collect another 250 thousand signatures, and if the parliament refused this time, then we would have to hold a referendum in Armenia. That is, by adopting this law, it actually turns out that we have abandoned the idea of a referendum. Why did they refuse? Because this issue has not matured to the level that it is possible to formulate the question before our people. Why did we adopt this law at all? Firstly, in order not to hold a referendum," Pashinyan said.

At a meeting with Pashinyan, Putin said that the Armenian authorities should give the people of the country the opportunity to make a choice on joining the European Union and close the topic. The Russian leader stressed that "people should always have a choice."

"Well, do it, and close the topic, that's all. The simplest thing is to turn to people, ask: "What do you want? So or so?"And that's it," Putin said.

Armenia and the European Union signed the Strategic Partnership Agenda in December 2025.

On May 29, 2026, at the EurAsEC summit in Astana, the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia made a joint statement on Armenia's accession to the European Union. The need to hold a national referendum on joining the EU or remaining in the EurAsEC in Armenia as soon as possible was emphasized.