Armenia's parliament passed a bill Wednesday launching Yerevan's bid for European Union membership, as the historically Russia-allied country drifts further away from Moscow's orbit.
The landlocked Caucasus nation has grown increasingly close to the West, frustrated by what it says was Moscow's failure to protect it from arch-foe Azerbaijan.
Adopted in final reading with 64 votes in favour -- all from lawmakers of the ruling Civil Contract party -- and seven opposition MPs voting against, the bill calls on the Armenian government to initiate the process of EU accession.
In January, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan backed the bill, but said its adoption "doesn't literally mean Armenia will be joining the EU, because that cannot be done through a law or government decision -- the decision on that can only be made through a referendum."
So far, no EU member state has publicly endorsed the idea of Armenia's potential accession to the 27-nation bloc.
But the EU's Enlargement Commissioner, Marta Kos, said in January that Brussels "will accept the membership application if it is made".
- Russia's warning -
Moscow has cautioned that Armenia's push toward EU membership could come at a steep economic cost.
Last week, Russia's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu reiterated the warning, saying Yerevan could lose tariff-free trade with Moscow and face a potential hike in Russian natural gas prices, adding that Russia may also expel large numbers of Armenian migrant workers.
Ties between Yerevan and Moscow plummeted dramatically following Azerbaijan's 2023 lightning offensive that routed Armenian-backed separatists in Baku's Karabakh region.
Armenia accused Russia, which had almost 2,000 troops stationed in the region, of doing nothing to prevent the fighting and the subsequent exodus of more than 100,000 Armenians from the region.
Four days after the offensive, Pashinyan told the nation in a televised address that Yerevan's current security alliances were "ineffective" and "insufficient".
In February 2024, he froze Armenia's participation in the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a defence grouping of several ex-Soviet states similar to NATO.
Yerevan also joined the International Criminal Court (ICC), against Moscow's wishes -- a move that means the country would be expected to arrest Russian President Vladimir Putin should he visit Armenia as the ICC has issued an arrest warrant for him.
It launched visa liberalisation talks with the EU in September 2024 and deepened its defence ties with France.
In July 2024, it held military drills with US troops.
Moscow has reacted with dismay to the moves, accusing Yerevan of trying to rupture ties.
Russia announced it was pulling its peacekeepers from Karabakh last year, and removing some troops and border guards from the Caucasus state.
