The Armenian parliamentary committee on European integration approved the bill on the beginning of the process of the country's accession to the EU in the second reading. The issue is included in the agenda of the plenary session of the legislative body scheduled for March 25. This is reported by Sputnik.

In January, the Armenian government agreed on the document, after which it was sent to parliament. In February, the bill was approved in the first reading. If the bill is adopted by parliament, the issue of joining the EU will be put to a national referendum, as Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized.

The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that it sees the EU's desire to consolidate its influence in Armenia as having an exclusively geopolitical background, far from the interests of real normalization of relations in the Caucasus.

Recently, Secretary of the Russian Security Council Sergei Shoigu noted that Yerevan will have to join the sanctions against the Russian Federation and leave the EAEU if it joins the EU.

"According to the most conservative estimates, leaving the EAEU at the stage of the negotiation process on joining the European Union will cost Armenia 30-40% of its GDP and the loss of privileges. These steps will be directed not only against Russia and Belarus, but also against Iran, with which Armenia's trade turnover by the end of 2024 amounted to more than $737 million," Shoigu said.