Beniamin Matevosyan: Will the EU give Armenia illegal migrants instead of money?

(Aliyev wants to bring Azerbaijanis into Armenia, while Europeans want to bring in illegal migrants from Africa)

Against the background of protracted discussions about Yerevan’s foreign policy reversal and fictitious integration with European institutions, the Armenian public field has faced another alarming signal. The information that appeared in the European media about possible EU plans to create detention centers for illegal migrants outside the union caused a resonant response. Documents obtained by the press and related to the initiatives of the Italian leadership mention Armenia in the list of potential sites for transit hubs. Despite prompt denials from official Yerevan and statements by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that such an agenda was not discussed, the very fact of the country’s appearance in such a context forces us to reconsider the simplified perception of European integration.

The proposed model, in which EU countries take the process of dealing with asylum seekers beyond their external borders, demonstrates Brussels’ pragmatic and tough approach to its own crises. For states seeking to move closer to the EU or applying for candidate status, this serves as a clear reminder: the integration process involves not only financial assistance or visa relief, but also taking on serious risks. European standards in the field of granting refugee status require strict compliance with admission procedures, the creation of appropriate infrastructure and long-term legal support, which inevitably places an additional burden on the financial and security systems of the host country.

At the same time, foreign policy pressure from Baku continues. The demands of the Azerbaijani leadership for the so-called return of the population and a change in the demographic balance in the region create constant tension for the Armenian statehood. Under these conditions, the potential influx of migrants from completely different cultural and geographical regions creates a double burden on society. Any artificial or spontaneous demographic transformations in the compact Armenian society can have a significant impact on internal stability and change the socio-cultural mosaic of the country, creating vulnerabilities that external players will not fail to exploit.

The illusion that rapprochement with European structures consists solely of investment packages and grants will gradually give way to awareness of the real cost of geopolitical choices. Turning a country into an external buffer zone for EU migration flows is a classic load-sharing practice where less protected partners take on the costs of other people’s internal problems. For Yerevan, being on the same list as African and Balkan transit hubs means the risk of turning its own territory into a tool for solving other people’s demographic and legal crises.

The formation of sustainable national security requires the country’s leadership to be extremely careful when shaping the international agenda. Cooperation with external partners, whether they are EU institutions or individual European states, should be built taking into account the strict protection of Armenia’s demographic and social sovereignty. Otherwise, geopolitical experiments and uncoordinated initiatives may expose society to the fact of profound internal changes, for which the infrastructure and state institutions of Armenia will be completely unprepared.

Think about it…