Pashinyan says Brussels–Tbilisi rift is ‘biggest problem’ for Armenia’s EU bi

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said the ‘biggest problem’ on Armenia’s path towards EU integration is the ‘frozen state of political dialogue between the EU and Georgia’.

Pashinyan had made the remarks during a speech at the EU Parliament.

Referencing the law adopted by the Armenian Parliament in March 2025 on launching the process of Armenia’s accession to the EU, Pashinyan said that this development came after Georgia received its own candidate status in December 2023.

‘This made Armenia’s EU membership prospect tangible, and it is our expectation and request that the EU–Georgia constructive process should develop. This is important for Armenia, just as important as for Georgia’.

Pashinyan’s comments on Wednesday sparked controversy, with some suggesting that he made the remarks at the request of the ruling Georgian Dream party in Tbilisi, particularly as he had visited the Georgian capital earlier in March and met with the Georgian leadership prior to his visit to Strasbourg.

Georgia’s authorities rushed to accuse the EU of halting the EU accession process following remarks by Pashinyan, despite having announced in December 2024 that they themselves were ‘temporarily suspending’ Georgia’s EU integration efforts.

‘Armenia’s prime minister delicately hinted to Eurobureaucracy that the unfair attitude and various types of attacks directed at Georgia should be reconsidered’, Tornike Cheishvili, the Deputy Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, told the Georgian pro-government media outlet Imedi.

He further accused the EU of ‘unilaterally’ suspending political dialogue with Georgia in  2024.

On Thursday, during a press briefing, Pashinyan rejected speculations that Georgian authorities had requested that he raise the issue in the West.

‘There was no request or appeal from the Georgian side, but on the other hand, we have shared agendas, and we are working around those agendas. I voiced my concern from the podium of the European Parliament because we are genuinely concerned about the situation that exists in relations between the EU and Georgia, and it worries us’, Pashinyan said.

Prayer for ‘wisdom’ in Iran war

Pashinyan also touched on the war in Iran and the consequent developments in the Middle East, highlighting Armenia’s good relations with almost all sides involved in the conflict.

Pashinyan called Iran Armenia’s ‘good friend, our thousand-year-old neighbour’, citing the developing relations with the US, and referred to the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Syria as Armenia’s ‘good partners’.

Pashinyan noted that his government was  ‘pained’ by the ongoing war; however, he added that Armenia could have no significant impact in the conflict.

‘Against the backdrop of such an international crisis of such magnitude, we are a small, modest state, and we can only pray for the repose of the souls of all the victims and for the wisdom of our partner leaders to find diplomatic solutions as soon as possible’.

Route to connect Nakhchivan to Azerbaijan ahead of TRIPP

During his speech, Pashinyan praised the achievements of the peace process with Azerbaijan, the turning point of which was the August 2025 Washington Summit, which saw the initialling of a peace treaty as well as an agreement to establish the Trump Route (TRIPP), intended to connect Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan through Armenia.

Pashinyan noted that for eight months ‘complete peace has been established on the Armenia–Azerbaijan border’, and said that since the summit, cargo trains had arrived in Armenia through Azerbaijan.

Pashinyan added that Armenia had in turn announced its readiness ‘to ensure transit’ from Azerbaijan to Turkey and vice versa, though neither Ankara nor Baku have accepted his country’s offer.

‘I assume that this is because they think that such a solution might delay the implementation of the Trump Route project’, Pashinyan said, rejecting such concerns by saying Armenia had ‘no reason’ to delay its implementation.

He also presented a new proposal to provide a road connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan using Armenia’s existing infrastructure.

‘This proposal of ours is not intended to delay, disrupt, or forget the Washington agreements in any way, and I say this officially. We are making these proposals because we ourselves, as I mentioned above, are using the Azerbaijani railway in a slightly alternative way’, Pashinyan said.

Azerbaijan uses Iranian territory to reach Nakhchivan. However, a recent drone strike on Nakhchivan, which Azerbaijan claims came from Iran, led to the temporary closure of transport links between the two countries, with speculation emerging in Armenia that it could serve as an alternative route.

Church leads ‘war party’ in Armenia

From the podium, Pashinyan also addressed the ongoing confrontation between his government and the Armenian Apostolic Church, which has escalated since May 2025, accusing the Church of leading a ‘war party’ in Armenia.

‘The reality is that some clergymen, who cynically violated all the rules of spiritual good conduct, thus making themselves vulnerable to foreign special services […] have assumed the leadership of the war party in Armenia, consolidating around them the former leaders of Armenia, some forces associated with them, some pro-Russian and pro-Belarusian oligarchs, and are trying to sacrifice Armenia’s independence to the interests of third countries’, Pashinyan claimed.

He further vowed not to allow ‘a new conflict’ in Armenia and said that in the parliamentary election on 7 June, ‘our democracy must make peace irreversible, and then, with peace, democracy will become irreversible’.