Brussels – The date of the first-ever EU-Armenia Summit can now be marked in the agenda. On 4–5 May 2026, EU leaders and the leadership of the South Caucasus country will meet in Yerevan, just after the European Political Community meeting taking place in the Armenian capital on 4 May.
“Armenia is a close EU partner, and we look forward to deepening this relationship with our first-ever summit,” said European Council President António Costa, announcing the upcoming event. “This milestone will mark an important investment in peace, security, connectivity and prosperity in the South Caucasus,” he added.
The EU-Armenia Summit will be attended by President Costa, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will represent the European Union, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
According to the agenda, the EU-Armenia Summit will focus on strengthening bilateral relations – in particular connectivity in energy, transport and digital sectors – discussing peace, security and prosperity in the South Caucasus, as well as current global challenges, “including the latest developments in the Middle East and Ukraine.”
The meeting will also be an occasion to advance the dialogue on visa liberalisation, following the action plan presented in November 2025, which outlined all the technical and policy requirements – including reforms in travel document security, border and migration management, public order, external relations and fundamental rights issues – that Armenia needs to fulfil before a visa-free regime for its citizens can be introduced.
At the EU-Armenia Summit, the three leaders will also have a high-level opportunity to explore the steps already taken and those still to be taken on Armenia’s EU accession path, following remarks by Prime Minister Pashinyan at the European Parliament’s plenary session that “there are two possibilities: either the EU will accept us, or it will not.”
The state of EU–Armenia relations
Relations between Armenia and the European Union have developed since Yerevan’s independence in 1991. The South Caucasus country joined the EU’s Eastern Partnership in 2009.
Negotiations on an Association Agreement began a year later but were suspended in 2013 after Armenia announced its decision to join the Eurasian Economic Union – an economic bloc comprising five post-Soviet countries, including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – which the EU considered incompatible with the agreements being negotiated with Brussels.
Despite the EEU membership, a new Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement was signed in February 2017, entering into force in March 2021. Although Yerevan’s trade with the EU exceeds that with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan combined, the country has historically depended on Russia for security.
The process that could eventually lead to an EU membership application informally began with the speech by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the European Parliament in October 2023, when he concluded by declaring that “Armenia is ready to come as close to the EU as the EU considers possible.”
After a citizens’ initiative successfully gathered 50,000 signatures in November 2024 – allowing a legislative proposal to launch the EU accession process to be submitted – the Armenian parliament passed the bill, which became law on 4 April 2025. Under the national constitution, a referendum must be held before submitting an application to join any supranational organisation, including the European Union.
