Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan demand Armenia hold referendum on EU vs EAEU membership

Four member states of the Eurasian Economic Union — Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan — have jointly demanded that Armenia hold a referendum to decide whether the country will remain in the EAEU or pursue membership in the European Union.

Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan have issued a joint demand requiring Armenia to organize a national referendum to determine the country's future geopolitical orientation — specifically, whether Armenia will stay in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) or continue its path toward European Union membership.

The demand puts Armenia in an increasingly difficult position, as Yerevan has in recent years visibly shifted its foreign policy away from Moscow and toward Brussels. Armenia suspended its participation in EAEU bodies earlier this year and has been deepening ties with Western institutions, signing a partnership agreement with the EU and launching visa liberalization talks.

Vladimir Putin's Russia and its EAEU allies appear to be using the referendum demand as a pressure tool to force Armenia into a formal, public choice — a move that would make it politically and legally far harder for Yerevan to maintain ambiguity about its strategic direction.

Armenia under Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been navigating a careful balancing act, formally remaining an EAEU member while simultaneously expanding cooperation with the EU and distancing itself from Russian security structures, including the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which it effectively froze its participation in following the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The development is closely watched in the Baltic states and in Brussels, as it represents one of the most direct confrontations yet between the Eurasian bloc and a country actively seeking closer ties with the European Union.