Armenia Delays Second Reading of EU Integration Bill

The second reading of Armenia's EU integration bill has been postponed due to the need to refine legal language, according to the bill's drafters, Orda reports, citing The Caucasian Knot.

The legislation, which follows a citizen initiative that gathered over 60,000 signatures, was previously approved in its first reading in February despite opposition from the "I Have Honor" faction.

Arman Yegoyan, head of the parliamentary European Integration Commission, explained the delay is purely technical. The government has proposed reorganizing the bill's articles, setting an implementation date, and removing the preamble.

Artak Zeylanyan, a co-drafter and Republic Party member, confirmed discussions would resume later this week or early next week, noting they missed the deadline for inclusion in the upcoming parliamentary session starting March 4.

The initiative began in September 2024 when Armenia's Central Election Commission registered a citizen-led petition supporting an EU membership referendum, which received government approval before moving to parliament.