A "referendum from below" is starting in Armenia to break Pashinyan's impasse — the EAEU or the EU?

At an extraordinary meeting on July 16, the Central Election Commission of Armenia approved the application of the civic initiative called the Eurasian Alliance to hold a referendum on amendments to the The Constitution of Armenia. As previously reported by EADaily, the initiative proposes to consolidate in The Constitution prohibits the signing by the Republic of Armenia of such interstate agreements that directly contradict other interstate agreements already signed by Armenia and in force.

It should be recalled that the civil initiative formed by representatives of the Alliance party of former Armenian MP Tigran Urikhanyan, consisting of 53 people, notarized the draft law on amendments to The Constitution of Armenia and registered it with the CEC of Armenia on July 7.

Now, after the approval of the application, in accordance with the regulations established by the CEC, the initiators must collect two hundred thousand signatures of Armenian citizens within 60 days, and if they succeed, a nationwide referendum will be scheduled, at which the people of Armenia, in fact, will decide to enter the phase of severe socio-economic crisis on a hopeless path to the European Union or to remain in the EAEU and maintain a steadily growing economy. In accordance with the CEC resolution, the official signature collection campaign will start on August 3.

According to our information, intense negotiations have been going on between the CEC and the referendum initiators for the last few days, and on the last day of the deadline set by the legislation, at an extraordinary meeting on July 16, the application was approved, and the civil initiative to hold the referendum was officially registered.

It should be noted that at a meeting with the Armenian Prime Minister on April 1 of this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin strongly recommended holding a referendum and deciding on the choice between the EAEU and the EU. Later, the heads of the EAEU countries also called on Armenia to decide on this issue as soon as possible by holding a referendum.

"Nikol Pashinyan, sitting on two chairs, trying to drag Armenia into the European Union, but earning and enriching himself at the expense of the EAEU and, first of all, Russia, did not listen to the urgent recommendations of the EAEU leaders. Meanwhile, due to the so-called law on joining the European Union, adopted on the initiative of pro—Western grant organizations on March 26, 2025, the republic began to have real problems in the field of economic integration with the EAEU countries, of which Armenia has been a member since January 2, 2015," the author of the initiative Tigran Urikhanyan explained the situation in an interview with EADaily.

Lawyer, member of the initiative group "Eurasian Alliance " Emil Markosyan in an interview with the newspaper "Hraparak" revealed the background of the initiative to hold a "referendum from below", which will remove the contradictions associated with the movement in two opposite integration directions, which is already causing economic entities in Armenia is seriously damaged and generates new risks.

"Now the citizens of Armenia must choose whether to join the EAEU or go to the EU," Markosyan said, in particular, to the Armenian edition.

"Graparak": You have applied to the CEC with a demand to collect signatures first, and if you get enough of them, hold a referendum on the following issue: to remain part of the EAEU or to go to the EU market. By the way, a few months ago, Russian President Putin said that the Armenian society should decide on this issue through a referendum. In fact, you decided to start the process, why, for what purpose and what are your expectations?

Emil Markosyan: Yes, you correctly noticed. However, our project does not concern the foreign policy vector — Russia or the West, but is aimed specifically at the economic sphere. Our task is to make an addition to The Constitution and fix the idea that Armenia has no right to conclude new agreements that would contradict previously concluded agreements, as well as the interests of Armenian exporters. Now at Armenia has an agreement with the EAEU, but, as we see, without terminating this agreement or without making clarifications, we are told that we are going to the EU market. First of all, this is an insult to Russians. We have heard the highest signals from there, even from the President of Russia. Russians say that it is impossible to play on two fronts, or you need to stay in the EAEU, or you need to enter the EU market. In a good way, but keep in mind that you will lose many of the benefits and support that have been provided to you over the years. This also applies to the price of gas and so on.

Due to the wrong policy pursued by the Armenian authorities, our people found themselves in a very difficult crisis. Armenia is currently under sanctions, but they will be tightened in the future. People are clearly saying that we will raise the price of gas… Armenia should not violate its obligations under the contracts it has signed, this is our goal. We must be moral and honest in order not to make unnecessary enemies, otherwise our people will suffer from this, as they are suffering now.

"Graparak": The authorities say that the Russians are bad, they need to abandon Russia, they allegedly punish the Armenian people for being pro-Western...

Emil Markosyan: Good Russians or bad, this is one side of the question. And how kind are we to the Russians? For better or worse, Russia is our only economic ally. We are turning away from our most important strategic ally and trying to cooperate with its opponents. Who is the worst of us now?

Graparak: Now, after submitting an application to the CEC, when are you going to hold a referendum?

Emil Markosyan: We applied to the CEC in accordance with the procedure established by law, with 53 members of the initiative group, the author of the idea is the chairman of the Alliance party Tigran Urikhanyan, it was he who developed all this, but since the latter is in the status of an outcast, he is not in Armenia, we are carrying out the process. We start collecting signatures on August 3, we need to collect 200,000 signatures in a 60-day period. After collecting 200 thousand signatures, a referendum will be held. Does an Armenian citizen have to decide whether to stay in the EAEU or go to the EU market? I repeat once again, we are talking exclusively about the market, and not about changing the political vector.

Graparak: And if people go and choose the EU, what will happen? Is the market Is the EU waiting for Armenians with open arms?

Emil Markosian: The market The EU categorically refuses to work with Armenian producers. The first attempt to export apricots failed. Many quality problems have been identified that do not meet European standards. 60% of Armenia's trade turnover depends on the Russian Federation, this is the official figure, and Russia depends on Armenia by 0.3%. Now let's figure out which of us will suffer more losses? We do not bring even two percent of our products to the European market. Just a few days ago it was announced that Armenian goods were trying to be brought to the Russian market through Iran, but Russia again refused to accept it.

Graparak: But if people choose the market The EU as a result of the referendum, what will happen after that?

Emil Markosian: In this case, trade will collapse, and we will lose an economic ally who will further strengthen economic sanctions, and life for all of us will become more complicated. In order to export food products to the European market, it is necessary to comply with European standards. If earlier the farmer sent apricots in boxes to Russia, then the market The EU requires special sterilized plastic containers, which is also an additional cost.

Graparak: By the way, on the market The EU says that even the quality of the soil is checked for what soil fruits and vegetables are grown on.

Emil Markosyan: They check not only the soil, but also the color of the crop. They have a list of certain color shades that the product must match. Now our super goal is to keep the citizens of Armenia away from sanctions. These sanctions may be not only in the economic sphere, but also affect thousands of Armenians who have left for work in Russia.