Armenia will never join European Union – Marat Bashirov

Speaking with Alpha News, political scientist and political strategist Marat Bashirov commented on EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas’s statement regarding support for Armenia in the upcoming 2026 elections and gave a forecast for Armenia’s accession to the European Union.

“The fact that other countries sometimes provide assistance through non-profit organizations to support democracy in other countries is, in principle, not wrong, as long as the law is not violated. But if direct interference occurs and it violates national legislation, then the authorities of any state always erect barriers and condemn it or allow it, committing violations, turning a blind eye to their own legislation. That’s the danger. If Kaja Kallas or anyone else from the European Union wants to work within the framework of the norms enshrined in the UN Charter regarding the protection of human rights, and the right to vote is enshrined in this Charter, in its documents, and in state constitutions, then that’s one thing. But if, in general, this whole thing is violated, well, in the end, they’ll get scolded,” Bashirov said.

According to the political scientist, Armenia’s path to the European Union lies through a complex system of approvals and is practically impossible to achieve.

“In my opinion, Armenia will never join the European Union. That’s a very simple verdict. To get there, first of all, you have to go a long way. What does it mean to comply with EU requirements? You have to rewrite 1,000 laws, technical regulations, rules for the production and circulation of, for example, the national currency, and, accordingly, take on obligations. Take Bulgaria, for example. We all remember its abundance of agricultural products—lecho, tomatoes, bell peppers, green peas. And what do we see on supermarket shelves now? Spanish tomatoes. Well, because, upon joining the EU, Bulgaria committed to producing a certain volume of tomatoes and not selling them in Spain. And Spain had this right secured by European bureaucrats. This also needs to be discussed. Or consider Greece: after joining the EU, its shipyards lost a huge number of orders, which went to Germany instead. The Greek government took out loans from Germany and closed some of its shipbuilding industries, which, by the way, were the most profitable. And it seemed like a fair deal. So, it turns out you lost a source of income and still owe Germany. This wasn’t just a subsidy; these were loans. That is the nature of the European Union, The EU was built as an egocentric system, where a few states, dominating within the Union, took over the markets of other countries, killing off certain sectors. Now, Armenia, with its not-so-strong economy, has its advantages, of course, but if Armenia is willing to give up more—or even just a little—that is the choice of the Armenian people. And let me remind you that, for me personally, Armenian cognac is Armenian. I don’t understand why they ban your cognac, which has such a huge history and a huge market in Russia, and ban it from being called cognac. The same thing will happen to many other products if Armenia, by some miracle, ends up in the European Union,” the expert concluded.