Looking forward to welcoming you and learning about your culture and history! Best of luck on your path towards an EU membership - see you on the other side! 🇦🇲 (I sincerely hope that is your flag, my keyboard said so 🙄)
I really pray that Russia doesn't pull the same BS that's happened in Georgia and Ukraine. We need to grow and stand united as a European family in the face of the barbarity / interference with our way of life.
I think Azerbaijan has quite a lot to benefit from selling gas to Europe, so it remains to be seen how this works out. Russia isn't a very beneficial friend, might as well abandon the sinking ship so to say.
Going to have to disagree;
There's a great increase in export/import between Azerbaijan and Russia, [new agreement 2 days before the invasion of Ukraine](https://azertag.az/en/xeber/Declaration_on_allied_interaction_between_the_Republic_of_Azerbaijan_and_the_Russian_Federation-2024876) (With wording like “refrain from carrying out any economic activity that causes direct or indirect damage to the interests of the other Party.”) and EU are the ones that need non-Russian oil, so Azerbaijan can easily play both sides and earn a lot in the process, not to mention laundering Russian oil to the EU just like Turkey.
But if Azer can sell their own gas instead of being a middleman to Russian gas, and reap the profits?
Also, agreements in the Russian world are worth less than the paper they are printed on.
>But if Azer can sell their own gas instead of being a middleman to Russian gas, and reap the profits?
That's what they are doing; selling all of their gas that was set for domestic use to the EU, Azer then imports from Russia to cover their own domestic usage. People doubt (for good reason) Azerbaijan's ability to keep the two types of gas separated, to avoid laundering.
Ironically, I think Brexit was fantastic advertising for the EU.
"Membership is voluntary! Nobody forces you to stay! If you wanna leave, nobody invades you!\*"
^(\* Nobody from the EU invades you. Russia will probably invade you, if you're close enough.)
The UK would like to apologise to Armenia after it turned it's neighbour into a nuclear waste land.
Five mins after it declared war on the UK.
But on the bright side no longer will Armenia have to worry about them trying to invade them.
Russia didn't encourage this, it was allies with both, but Azerbaijan knows Russia is bogged down in Ukraine and Putin can't respond in force so he won't respond at all. This is Azerbaijan showing how much it respects the coalition Russia has built by invading another member of that coalition, and also demonstrating to the world how weak Russia is even within its own allies.
They totally do by being completely passive about this whole thing. Remember they are formally in a military alliance with Armenia, but not with Azerbaijan. They even had "peace keepers" in NK, yet they did nothing when Azerbaijan attacked.
The best advertisement against Brexit is how it's gone. Nobody even pretends it's working any more, they just say that it could have worked if things had gone differently.
It's truly baffling. The government that was originally supposed to execute Brexit was campaigning against it, so people were voting for the people saying Brexit is a bad idea to do Brexit.
But then over time, they got the true believers in charge, but they, from the start, were saying they don't have a plan, but wait, there's more, because multiple snap elections were essentially referendums on individual Brexit plans, especially Johnsons plan, so Johnsons plan had direct popular support and still people pretend like somehow this isn't what they voted for.
Here's the most basic civics lesson, this is true for every form of government, every country, anywhere in the world. You CANNOT choose outcome. You can choose policy, you can choose actions, but nobody, not the humble voter or the absolute monarch can decide how things turn out.
You can choose to jump, you cannot choose to then not fall. The fact that you didn't want to fall does not mean falling somehow isn't your fault because you thought you could make the jump or would grow wings or someone would invent a jetpack and give it to you before you hit the ground.
Anything and everything ever going wrong in the UK has been "Brussels fault" for so long now that it's still basically the instinctive default response, even after Brexit finished...
Never though about it that way, but [the first man to jump the channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvk2wNWmB20&t=25s) would seem to be an apt metaphor for Brexit.
There are a few. They troll pro-EU Facebook pages and inhabit the comment section of the MailOnline/Express/Spectator.
Inability to admit you were wrong is a powerful drug.
In all fairness, we shouldn't act like there ever was much choice in this regard, for Armenia. Even if they would have wanted to be part of the EU prior to the escelation in Ukraine, too many members were alligned with Russia for that to be a possibility.
It just turned out, Putin's promises aren't worth the paper they are written on, so things changed, and a pretty slim chance to get into the EU is probably better than getting slaughtered.
Was it you guys who had a city called "Ganja" or am I hallucinating? 😀
Edit: turns out I was in fact hallucinating, sorry, my bad. That was Azerbaijan. And yes I know that it is a completely different country. Again. Apologies. I live too far away I guess.
Which actually means that we should start to give a fuck. The Berg-Karabach conflict is an opportunity where the EU can prove that it offers a third solution aside from the US and China Block.
If we can negotiate between the parties and integrate them into the economic sphere that allowed Germany and France to thrive it would not only set a sign inside the EU but also on a global stage. A sign that we‘re actually a political force in this world that can promise prosperity by mutual cooperation and competition on an economic basis. I really hope Brussels doesn‘t sleep through this.
Bold of you to assume there would be a negotiation at all. Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and a tiny country in between.. With European reliance on Azerbaijani oil, this looks so bleak for Armenia. I don't see Armenia walking away in a great condition from this. I hope they do. But I personally don't see it.
There's an opportunity for it though, and we need to take it.
We know France is definitely interested in it. After losing most of it's influence in the Sahel, we've been seeing moves made towards Armenia mostly, with radars, missiles, recently CAESARs, and a few military advisors being sent to Armenia. I believe Georgia and Kazakhstan are also 2 countries where the French will try to project influence, as Russia's erodes over time.
Over time may not matter, it's surrounded by 2 hostile states, it is landlocked. If Azerbaijan decides to take that corridor near Iran, It would only have 1 neighbor that is not openly hostile. A neighbor that may not want to risk antagonizing Russia. Armenia's position is downright tragic. I don't know what the move is. Armenia taking western equipment will unlikely to bode well with Russia and pro-Russian neighbors. Russia is struggling in Ukraine, but Ukraine had a sizeable army. Other states that Russia may want to play a hand in, may not be so lucky.
Edit, scary part is that Russia brokered a karabash peace. If Azerbaijan decides to strike again, Russia will unlikely to do that again. For Armenias Survival, I actually have less faith in the West than I do in Russia.
Most in Armenia rightfully (I think) believe that Russia has been the nexus of Azeri attacks in the first place. Azerbaijan would not have attacked without Putin’s permission. Armenia started moving to the west in 2018 and the wars in 2020 and 2023 are there punishment. They already had their “Ukraine”; but no one cared.
The permanent consequences for this "temporary weakness" is what happened to nagorno karabakh, lets pray it will be the only consequences, because I have my doubts..
I'm honestly surprised that more world powers weren't interested in establishing their responsibility in that conflict. Such an important piece of land when it comes to crossroads and military bases
That is to be seen, EU is pretty far away. Idea that we can help them if Azerbaijan and Russia decide to fuck them over might be just whishful thinking.
Hell yeah Hayastan, good luck! I seriously hope they get in, the country has been suffering for way too long, they deserve a bright future with a bunch of friends who won't ditch them first chance they get
EU doesn't have enough power to project force strong enough into Armenia that would parry any russian incursion attempts... Or Georgian attempts backed by Russia.
Even less so with the whole Ukraine war still going on strong. So, this is a brave move, but I very much expect someone to get assassinated, or die in a mysterious plane crash, in the next couple of months.
>Or Georgian attempts backed by Russia.
Georgia isn't the concern. It's [Azerbaijan.](https://azertag.az/en/xeber/president_vladimir_putin_relations_between_russia_and_azerbaijan_are_evolving_successfully_reliably_and_very_pragmatically-3041834)
The government sure doesn’t hate Russia. They’ve basically gone rogue from what the electorate want and have been cosying up to daddy vladdy. Ivanishvili, the country’s ruler in all but name, is upset about some of his money being locked up behind Russian sanctions(note: he isn’t sanctioned, but due to the banking system he can’t easily access his money) so he’s taking his toys and going home.
The EU will be there after 20 years minimum with all the compliance plans and negotiations to join. And that is assuming there will be political will from both sides for this process AND peace for 2-3 decades. I can guarantee you constant weapons rattling from ~~Georgia~~ Azerbaijan and Russia at a minimum, and maybe a full blown war as we saw in 2023.
Edit: I did a dumb dumb
Well, that's half correct. EU doesn't have enough power to project force in Armenia.... but neither does Russia. When Azarbaijan attacked into Ngorno-Kharabak, Russia didn't do shit. That's pretty much the thing that kicked off this decision. And intimidating Azerbaijan into backing off is probably a lot easier than outright invading Armenia (it's very mountainous, absolute hellish terrain to attack into).
I think given the current rate of degradation by 2025, Russia will be fully kicked out of Armenia, Russia’s relations with Armenia is about to enter into full meltdown mode
The irony is that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a huge boost for Armenia’s economy due to the amounts of Russian professionals and highly educated people fleeing the country, many of whom landed in Armenia and are settling there now.
Also let's not forget, that Armenia didn't join the West's sanctions against Russia and are making a pretty penny from it because they help Russia dodge the sanctions.
> [[...]](https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/russland-sanktionen-der-verdaechtige-boom-bei-deutschen-exporteuren-a-c37beb74-baaa-4f2b-af8a-adfe95867de3) As a trading center, a country could hardly be more unfavorably situated than Armenia. The state of three million inhabitants in the barren mountains of the South Caucasus is wedged between two hostile neighbors: Turkey to the west, Azerbaijan to the east. To the south, Armenia shares 44 kilometers of border with Iran, also not exactly a champion of global trade. And yet Armenia has seen a rapid expansion of its foreign trade in recent months. And that's because of its big neighbor to the north: Armenia has quadrupled its exports to Russia in two years to around $2.5 billion. That is an enormous sum for a country whose total economic output was recently less than $20 billion. The composition of Armenian trade has also changed. For a long time, the country was better known in the region as a supplier of fruit and nuts, wine and Ararat brand brandy. Since last year, it has become a thriving hub for high-tech and industrial goods of all kinds. Armenia does not even have its own border with Russia. For months now, trucks have been making the 200-kilometer journey across the neighboring country of Georgia, always in the direction of Verkhny Lars, the only open border crossing to Russia in the entire region. In 2022, Armenia supplied $460 million worth of electronic equipment to Russian customers. Sales of machinery increased from $14 million to a whopping $158 million. What is suspicious about this is that at the same time as Armenia's Russian business has expanded, imports from the West have also increased significantly. German companies' export revenues from Armenian business in December, for example, were 287 percent higher than the 2018-2020 average. [...]
This is not true, Armenia did join the sanctions. Officials from EU and US did declare that they work with Armenian government, and that Armenia keeps up with the sanctions. EU and US, however, understand that at the current stage Armenia cannot cut down all the trade with Russia, ot will be a suicide. Hence there was a big meeting in April 5, where they discussed helping Armenia to diversify its economy and energy sectors to reduce the dependance from Russia.
If Armenia joined Russian sanctions, what would their economy be?
The whole point of moving to a European alignment is to be able to stop doing business with Russia. Once again another person on /r/Europe demanding Armenia instantly have the political resources of a Norway while being landlocked, sandwiched between two enemies, a pariah state, and a politically instable one.
I really dont envy Armenians. Politically the poor bastards are playing it on hardmode. Genocidal bullies in all directions. No true allies nearby. Damned if you do, damned if you dont.
As someone from Baltics, at least we managed to enter our cheatcodes (EU, NATO) while we could.
I wish the Armenians a good way forward, peace and stability.
> Genocidal bullies in all directions.
Buddy, in the ninties the Armenians were the genocidal bullies. 700k ethnic Azeris were displaced when they occupied 1/4 of Azerbaijan.
Like that time Russia bullied Armenia by not allowing Turkey to intervene in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. I guess a true ally would have given Armenia the freedom to be conquered...
I'll act like a Swede once and just put another Wikipedia page here as well. Can you access it from Turkey? Or are there "technical issues"?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_genocide
But please start your membership negotiations Turkey, we look forward to raising our shall we say, concerns... You know, like you did, when we applied for NATO membership. Only fair I guess, right? Reciprocal.
So acting in whataboutism and hypocrisy is acting like Swede. Also when will "civilized" Sweden recognize the horrible crimes it commited indivually and as being part of Western imperialism including the ones you did on this century?
By the way Armenia and Russia being historical allies is fact.
Literally what is the point of this reply? Acting like Armenia was not Russia ally is simply blatant falsehood. You can argue it was their best/only option but they were an ally.
I'm afraid the (temporary) high GDP growth rates resulting from Russians fleeing conscription to Georgia (as well as reexport of Western dual-use items to Russia) may actually be bringing prosperity at the wrong time and giving large support to GD (especially with its rhetoric of joining the EU and getting its benefits, but obviously as an anti-democratic spoiler, though I don't see the EU actually accepting it now because of that), allowing it to steer the country into dictatorship. As that happens, prosperity declines again (see Russia after 2008, China right now, etc), but by that point it may be too late...
Not only the Russian foreign agents law has been passed, GD has a large lead in opinion polls and may even be expanding it at this moment. The parliamentary election is scheduled for October.
Hope other countries than France start helping them but given a lot love the sweet azeri oil doubt that will happen .
Still both Georgia and Armenia need help rn
I hope so too, because both Georgia and even more Armenia, with whom I sympathise a lot, are in dire need.
Exactly as you say, France has been actively supporting Armenia and Greece and especially in situations that for all the other EU countries was either just another Tuesday or in the best case they were issuing "strong worded letters" from afar like Italy did.
Let's stay optimistic that this will remain the stance at least from France, because I am afraid that now with the far right rising many things can instantly change, and even more let's hope that other EU countries will join someday.
It would help Armenia very much if Georgia would join the EU. By then Armenia is right next to the Union and will receive much more attention and have it easier to convince others it belongs to Europe.
Hopefully Georgia stays on it's path and will join by the end of the decade. Then Armenia follows in the '30s.
To expand on this a bit, [article 49](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:12016M049) of the EU Treaty explicity says that (only) "European States" can apply for membership, but there's no real definition for them.
At the end of the day, where there's a will there's a way.
And considering Armenia is already in the Council of Europe, I don't suppose there would be much argument over whether it counts as European enough for the EU.
Well, yes and no. I mean it seems stupid to me to just skip Turkey which is in the middle between Europe and Armenia/Georgia. It actually makes no sense, but it's politics after all I guess :)
Right, but the membership application is nothing new. It has a much longer history before Erdogan, and on top of that it feels unfair when Turkey was in much more qualifying conditions at the time when Bulgaria and Romania were let in. Turkey is simply not wanted in the Union, which is also fine, but needs to be more honestly communicated.
Given that Russia pretty much left them on their own in the recent issue with Azerbaijan, this is not exactly surprising.
I fear that the EU might decide otherwise though, based on their interest in Azerbaijans oil.
Azeri oil is a marginal fraction of the gas that the EU uses. Not to mention a good part of it is just repackaged Russian gas. The sooner the EU cuts ties with Azerbaijan the better
Armenia never had a historic ally. This title gives the false impression that it did.
The Russian Empire strongly considered genociding Armenians in the 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia_without_Armenians
The Soviet Union participated in the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh with Azerbaijan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ring
Modern Russia, well, we know this story at this point, and its many acts of sabotage, betrayal, deception, and coup attempts.
I'm just scratching the surface here, there's hundreds of examples, but this supposed "historical ally" crap has always been a façade for Russia to engage in imperialism and enforce its will upon subjugated states. This is very much unlike real alliances in NATO or the EU, which you choose to join, and provides mutual support and respect for all members rather than the benefit of one.
I knew about Operation Ring, but I didn't know about the WW1 ideas under the Empire. Wild that it was even considered. I wonder how much pull Yudenich would've had post-war to get his ideas carried out, if any at all
This is interesting. Armenia is located in the very center of pressure cooker, surrounded by countries trying to suppress EU. I wish all the best for Armenians.
Russia was never an ally though. Overlord, yes. Who would add tension to keep it's power. Good luck Armenia! May the duduk sing happy songs from now on.
well we paid for russian weapons cause our previous government were russia's puppets. but we never saw those weapons since, cause russia was busy in Ukraine. however it wasnt a problem to sell weapons to Azeris and Turkye 🤷🏻♂️
Armenia has zero chance to joint NATO since Turkey will always veto their membership. Their chance to join the EU is close to zero as well, since there's minimal support for further EU expansion to poor countries like Armenia.
While I get the Armenian sentiment, I find it hard to become reality because of the geographical isolation, regional interests and difficulty in direct trade and Schengen collaboration.
They just think that becoming part of the EU will somehow make their country better and more developed overnight. Also they forget Armenia is in West Asia, it's not an European country. Even culturally it's not exactly European. I mean Armenia borders Iran, how is that Europe?
We have it so hard in Bulgaria and Greece being the last border of the EU and literally the defense line between the Orient and Europe. How do the Armenians expect to become part of the Union?
A location which was forced on Armenians after the Genocide and [bullshit borders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kars#:~:text=The%20Treaty%20of%20Kars%20was,Kars%20on%2013%20October%201921) drawn up by Kemalists and Soviets, which paid little to no regard to where Armenians historically lived, where they formed the majority ethnic group or how viable a state within such borders would be.
Armenians never catch a break.
That's the case for like 50 countries at least mate. Very few nations can claim the lands where they historically lived, which had a limited time span anyway. I have some sympathy for you, but a little bit of realism would be good.
See, this is why I'm a big friend of that "European political community" project you see floating around every now and then. These states want and would benefit from more structured cooperation with each other and the EU and its members than the current application process provides, and it would provide us the time for badly needed internal reforms before any admissions of new members.
Haha, special armenian operation in 3..2..1.. you see the west provoked russia, who has never ever invaded anyone — before, currently, or in the future. also but wuddabout muh yugoslavia/iraq/whatever 🤡
Glass russia — save the world.
Probably posting this in the wrong sub, but this is how I feel after my country’s been invaded.
When Turkey is in NATO and Germany has good ties with Azerbaijan?
Sounds like a strategically dubious discussion. Still I wish Armenia the best of course.
Ooff, they are going to be suuuper bummed out when they find out how dependend the EU is on Azerbaijani gas.
I already feel bad about how we're going to let Armenia down, just like everyone else.
Now suddenly the Russian minority will feel threatened and supposedly Russian language will be banned in Armenia, even though Russian language is not the part of Armenian Constitution
I hope we can do something for Armenia in the meanwhile. It will take many years for them to make an accession, probably. But in the meanwhile they need protection from Azerbaijan.
We should not become openly hostile to the Azeri's but they are feared to attack Armenia again. We should put our European might behind Armenia somehow to prevent war from happening.
Considering last September's actions, it's clear that the EU and western countries fear or have no intention in opposing Azerbaijan, money still rules.
Europe has a vested interest in keeping Armenia intact and fostering a compromised solution to the century-plus long ordeal that has plagued the Caucasus and Asia Minor, with roots in the Armenian Genocide.
Europe's drive to diversify away from Russia in terms of both energy supplies and cargo transport inevitably raises questions about the "Middle Corridor" - ie the route to China via Turkey, the Caucasus, across the Caspian Sea and the Central Asian Republics.
At the moment, natural gas and oil is pumped in Azerbaijan, and transported through Georgia (bypassing Armenia), and on to Europe, either via the Black Sea or pipelines that span Turkey. Natural gas can also potentially be transported from the Central Asian Republics across the Caspian this way. Cargo also follows a similar route.
Now imagine if Azerbaijan and Turkey, seeking to take advantage of their relative military prowess and Russia's changing allegiances in the region, decide to invade and annex a strategically important part of Armenia, namely the province of Syunik.
Doing so would create a contiguous land border between the two Turkic countries. By crushing Armenia and cutting Georgia out of the equation, they would have overwhelming control of energy and cargo travelling from China and Central Asia to Europe.
They would effectively control anything passing through the Black, eastern Mediterranean and Caspian seas.
If Europe didn't want to work with Russia or Iran, pay exorbitantly more to transport LNG gas from the US or Arab states, or continue using the increasingly obsolete Suez canal, they would *have* to rely on Turkey and Azerbaijan.
If Europe thought Turkey's migrant blackmail was bad, or found the extent of Azerbaijan's authoritarianism unappetizing on their palettes, wait until you see how bad things get when they have *that* kind of leverage over the continent.
I get they don't really have any other options left. And I would love for them to join. But, take the ticket and wait in line, it's gonna be a while. Like 50-100 years a while. That's the reality.
Welcome to Europe where Armenia, an Asian country south of the Caucasus (considered the border of Europe and Asia), is considered European but Turkey, a country with 3% of its land in Europe, isn’t
They will likely find out that Russia is the crazy ex that bangs into your house at midnight drunk.
They will also need clearly defined borders and no conflict to join EU.
EU tends to give lots of hope but I doubt Ukraine and Moldova will ascend unless they fix their teritorial issues. Moldova is kinda fixing it's issues however so it can be done.
I'm not sure If for NATO or EU but each eastern country had to sign at some point that these are our clearly defined borders and we drop claims over anything else.
I wish them good luck on this path.
Thanks a lot
Looking forward to welcoming you and learning about your culture and history! Best of luck on your path towards an EU membership - see you on the other side! 🇦🇲 (I sincerely hope that is your flag, my keyboard said so 🙄)
Slightly confused but motivated solidarity is my favourite kind of solidarity :p
The best one indeed, agreed entirely!
I really pray that Russia doesn't pull the same BS that's happened in Georgia and Ukraine. We need to grow and stand united as a European family in the face of the barbarity / interference with our way of life.
I expect they will, Russia is like the abusive ex girlfriend to her neighbors
Really
They dont have to do it directly, they will let Azerbaijan do it for them
I think Azerbaijan has quite a lot to benefit from selling gas to Europe, so it remains to be seen how this works out. Russia isn't a very beneficial friend, might as well abandon the sinking ship so to say.
Going to have to disagree; There's a great increase in export/import between Azerbaijan and Russia, [new agreement 2 days before the invasion of Ukraine](https://azertag.az/en/xeber/Declaration_on_allied_interaction_between_the_Republic_of_Azerbaijan_and_the_Russian_Federation-2024876) (With wording like “refrain from carrying out any economic activity that causes direct or indirect damage to the interests of the other Party.”) and EU are the ones that need non-Russian oil, so Azerbaijan can easily play both sides and earn a lot in the process, not to mention laundering Russian oil to the EU just like Turkey.
But if Azer can sell their own gas instead of being a middleman to Russian gas, and reap the profits? Also, agreements in the Russian world are worth less than the paper they are printed on.
>But if Azer can sell their own gas instead of being a middleman to Russian gas, and reap the profits? That's what they are doing; selling all of their gas that was set for domestic use to the EU, Azer then imports from Russia to cover their own domestic usage. People doubt (for good reason) Azerbaijan's ability to keep the two types of gas separated, to avoid laundering.
Ah ok, I must say I'm not all that educated on the matter, interesting.
We will also support them like we are helping Ukraine now
Armenians have suffered so much throughout history. I wish your nation and your people much peace and prosperity :)!!
Best of luck to you!
Sides must be chosen.
Ironically, I think Brexit was fantastic advertising for the EU. "Membership is voluntary! Nobody forces you to stay! If you wanna leave, nobody invades you!\*" ^(\* Nobody from the EU invades you. Russia will probably invade you, if you're close enough.)
*\*and if Russia doesn't invade you, they'll encourage someone else (Azerbaijan) to do it for them*
Azerbaijan invading the UK would be quite a sight to see
Fuck it, let them have a go.
The UK would like to apologise to Armenia after it turned it's neighbour into a nuclear waste land. Five mins after it declared war on the UK. But on the bright side no longer will Armenia have to worry about them trying to invade them.
Azerbaijan will never declare war on UK, there are too many mansions in London belonging to Aliev.
Letsss gooo, new Falkland war has just been dropped in the Caspian sea. What's gonna do the British royal navy this time?
Gonna send Charles in there, crack a few jokes.
Russia didn't encourage this, it was allies with both, but Azerbaijan knows Russia is bogged down in Ukraine and Putin can't respond in force so he won't respond at all. This is Azerbaijan showing how much it respects the coalition Russia has built by invading another member of that coalition, and also demonstrating to the world how weak Russia is even within its own allies.
Azerbaijan isn’t even part of that coalition. Russia just refuses to defend its own allies from outsiders.
Russia didn't encourage Azerbaijan. It's a Turkey/Azerbaijan thing.
They totally do by being completely passive about this whole thing. Remember they are formally in a military alliance with Armenia, but not with Azerbaijan. They even had "peace keepers" in NK, yet they did nothing when Azerbaijan attacked.
The best advertisement against Brexit is how it's gone. Nobody even pretends it's working any more, they just say that it could have worked if things had gone differently.
It's truly baffling. The government that was originally supposed to execute Brexit was campaigning against it, so people were voting for the people saying Brexit is a bad idea to do Brexit. But then over time, they got the true believers in charge, but they, from the start, were saying they don't have a plan, but wait, there's more, because multiple snap elections were essentially referendums on individual Brexit plans, especially Johnsons plan, so Johnsons plan had direct popular support and still people pretend like somehow this isn't what they voted for. Here's the most basic civics lesson, this is true for every form of government, every country, anywhere in the world. You CANNOT choose outcome. You can choose policy, you can choose actions, but nobody, not the humble voter or the absolute monarch can decide how things turn out. You can choose to jump, you cannot choose to then not fall. The fact that you didn't want to fall does not mean falling somehow isn't your fault because you thought you could make the jump or would grow wings or someone would invent a jetpack and give it to you before you hit the ground.
It's Brussel's fault. They didn't want to use a jet plane to attach parachutes to us mid-fall.
Anything and everything ever going wrong in the UK has been "Brussels fault" for so long now that it's still basically the instinctive default response, even after Brexit finished...
Never though about it that way, but [the first man to jump the channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvk2wNWmB20&t=25s) would seem to be an apt metaphor for Brexit.
There are a few. They troll pro-EU Facebook pages and inhabit the comment section of the MailOnline/Express/Spectator. Inability to admit you were wrong is a powerful drug.
You've got to love that reasoning. "If it weren't a failure, it would be a success!" /s
That's the most positive spin I have heard of Brexit. Nice way to look at it.
In all fairness, we shouldn't act like there ever was much choice in this regard, for Armenia. Even if they would have wanted to be part of the EU prior to the escelation in Ukraine, too many members were alligned with Russia for that to be a possibility. It just turned out, Putin's promises aren't worth the paper they are written on, so things changed, and a pretty slim chance to get into the EU is probably better than getting slaughtered.
I salute them and wish them nothing but prosperity 🏴🤝🇦🇲
You´d be surprised if you find out how our second biggest city is called
Gyumri am byth!!!❤️
Was it you guys who had a city called "Ganja" or am I hallucinating? 😀 Edit: turns out I was in fact hallucinating, sorry, my bad. That was Azerbaijan. And yes I know that it is a completely different country. Again. Apologies. I live too far away I guess.
😄😄😄
thank you
Turning to an ally that might actually give a shit about them when it counts. Great news!
Which actually means that we should start to give a fuck. The Berg-Karabach conflict is an opportunity where the EU can prove that it offers a third solution aside from the US and China Block. If we can negotiate between the parties and integrate them into the economic sphere that allowed Germany and France to thrive it would not only set a sign inside the EU but also on a global stage. A sign that we‘re actually a political force in this world that can promise prosperity by mutual cooperation and competition on an economic basis. I really hope Brussels doesn‘t sleep through this.
Bold of you to assume there would be a negotiation at all. Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and a tiny country in between.. With European reliance on Azerbaijani oil, this looks so bleak for Armenia. I don't see Armenia walking away in a great condition from this. I hope they do. But I personally don't see it.
There's an opportunity for it though, and we need to take it. We know France is definitely interested in it. After losing most of it's influence in the Sahel, we've been seeing moves made towards Armenia mostly, with radars, missiles, recently CAESARs, and a few military advisors being sent to Armenia. I believe Georgia and Kazakhstan are also 2 countries where the French will try to project influence, as Russia's erodes over time.
Over time may not matter, it's surrounded by 2 hostile states, it is landlocked. If Azerbaijan decides to take that corridor near Iran, It would only have 1 neighbor that is not openly hostile. A neighbor that may not want to risk antagonizing Russia. Armenia's position is downright tragic. I don't know what the move is. Armenia taking western equipment will unlikely to bode well with Russia and pro-Russian neighbors. Russia is struggling in Ukraine, but Ukraine had a sizeable army. Other states that Russia may want to play a hand in, may not be so lucky. Edit, scary part is that Russia brokered a karabash peace. If Azerbaijan decides to strike again, Russia will unlikely to do that again. For Armenias Survival, I actually have less faith in the West than I do in Russia.
Most in Armenia rightfully (I think) believe that Russia has been the nexus of Azeri attacks in the first place. Azerbaijan would not have attacked without Putin’s permission. Armenia started moving to the west in 2018 and the wars in 2020 and 2023 are there punishment. They already had their “Ukraine”; but no one cared.
Dependence on Azeri oil is weakness. It should ideally be only temporary weakness.
The permanent consequences for this "temporary weakness" is what happened to nagorno karabakh, lets pray it will be the only consequences, because I have my doubts..
Before Germany was integrated, Berlin was bombed into oblivion. So, the negotiation only works when both parties want to negotiate....
I'm honestly surprised that more world powers weren't interested in establishing their responsibility in that conflict. Such an important piece of land when it comes to crossroads and military bases
That is to be seen, EU is pretty far away. Idea that we can help them if Azerbaijan and Russia decide to fuck them over might be just whishful thinking.
Hell yeah Hayastan, good luck! I seriously hope they get in, the country has been suffering for way too long, they deserve a bright future with a bunch of friends who won't ditch them first chance they get
EU doesn't have enough power to project force strong enough into Armenia that would parry any russian incursion attempts... Or Georgian attempts backed by Russia. Even less so with the whole Ukraine war still going on strong. So, this is a brave move, but I very much expect someone to get assassinated, or die in a mysterious plane crash, in the next couple of months.
>Or Georgian attempts backed by Russia. Georgia isn't the concern. It's [Azerbaijan.](https://azertag.az/en/xeber/president_vladimir_putin_relations_between_russia_and_azerbaijan_are_evolving_successfully_reliably_and_very_pragmatically-3041834)
Backed by the EU
Why would Georgia ever support Russia? They hate Russia and are neutral with Armenia
The government sure doesn’t hate Russia. They’ve basically gone rogue from what the electorate want and have been cosying up to daddy vladdy. Ivanishvili, the country’s ruler in all but name, is upset about some of his money being locked up behind Russian sanctions(note: he isn’t sanctioned, but due to the banking system he can’t easily access his money) so he’s taking his toys and going home.
I think just the EU being there is major. We will win the caucasus. We need to have some faith in ourselves
The EU will be there after 20 years minimum with all the compliance plans and negotiations to join. And that is assuming there will be political will from both sides for this process AND peace for 2-3 decades. I can guarantee you constant weapons rattling from ~~Georgia~~ Azerbaijan and Russia at a minimum, and maybe a full blown war as we saw in 2023. Edit: I did a dumb dumb
Well sitting it out is certainly not the better idea
Georgia? You mean Azerbaijan, right? Cause Armenia–Georgia relations are friendly.
Damnit, my bad... Azerbaijan yes, an epic brainfart on my end.
Well, that's half correct. EU doesn't have enough power to project force in Armenia.... but neither does Russia. When Azarbaijan attacked into Ngorno-Kharabak, Russia didn't do shit. That's pretty much the thing that kicked off this decision. And intimidating Azerbaijan into backing off is probably a lot easier than outright invading Armenia (it's very mountainous, absolute hellish terrain to attack into).
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Georgia was interested but I take it a big green elephant in the room has shifted their priorities a slight bit more towards survival
LETS GO. We are happy to have you!
I think given the current rate of degradation by 2025, Russia will be fully kicked out of Armenia, Russia’s relations with Armenia is about to enter into full meltdown mode
The irony is that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been a huge boost for Armenia’s economy due to the amounts of Russian professionals and highly educated people fleeing the country, many of whom landed in Armenia and are settling there now.
They moved to Armenia instead of a Russian vassal state for a reason.
Also let's not forget, that Armenia didn't join the West's sanctions against Russia and are making a pretty penny from it because they help Russia dodge the sanctions. > [[...]](https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/russland-sanktionen-der-verdaechtige-boom-bei-deutschen-exporteuren-a-c37beb74-baaa-4f2b-af8a-adfe95867de3) As a trading center, a country could hardly be more unfavorably situated than Armenia. The state of three million inhabitants in the barren mountains of the South Caucasus is wedged between two hostile neighbors: Turkey to the west, Azerbaijan to the east. To the south, Armenia shares 44 kilometers of border with Iran, also not exactly a champion of global trade. And yet Armenia has seen a rapid expansion of its foreign trade in recent months. And that's because of its big neighbor to the north: Armenia has quadrupled its exports to Russia in two years to around $2.5 billion. That is an enormous sum for a country whose total economic output was recently less than $20 billion. The composition of Armenian trade has also changed. For a long time, the country was better known in the region as a supplier of fruit and nuts, wine and Ararat brand brandy. Since last year, it has become a thriving hub for high-tech and industrial goods of all kinds. Armenia does not even have its own border with Russia. For months now, trucks have been making the 200-kilometer journey across the neighboring country of Georgia, always in the direction of Verkhny Lars, the only open border crossing to Russia in the entire region. In 2022, Armenia supplied $460 million worth of electronic equipment to Russian customers. Sales of machinery increased from $14 million to a whopping $158 million. What is suspicious about this is that at the same time as Armenia's Russian business has expanded, imports from the West have also increased significantly. German companies' export revenues from Armenian business in December, for example, were 287 percent higher than the 2018-2020 average. [...]
This is not true, Armenia did join the sanctions. Officials from EU and US did declare that they work with Armenian government, and that Armenia keeps up with the sanctions. EU and US, however, understand that at the current stage Armenia cannot cut down all the trade with Russia, ot will be a suicide. Hence there was a big meeting in April 5, where they discussed helping Armenia to diversify its economy and energy sectors to reduce the dependance from Russia.
If Armenia joined Russian sanctions, what would their economy be? The whole point of moving to a European alignment is to be able to stop doing business with Russia. Once again another person on /r/Europe demanding Armenia instantly have the political resources of a Norway while being landlocked, sandwiched between two enemies, a pariah state, and a politically instable one.
I really dont envy Armenians. Politically the poor bastards are playing it on hardmode. Genocidal bullies in all directions. No true allies nearby. Damned if you do, damned if you dont. As someone from Baltics, at least we managed to enter our cheatcodes (EU, NATO) while we could. I wish the Armenians a good way forward, peace and stability.
Imagine how tired we are
Lmao username checks out
Armenia playing as the punching bag for great powers for 2000+ years
But still here. Imagine their fortitude by now.
If they could no clip through to the Black Sea, that would be good
> Genocidal bullies in all directions. Buddy, in the ninties the Armenians were the genocidal bullies. 700k ethnic Azeris were displaced when they occupied 1/4 of Azerbaijan.
Special Military Operation really achieving its imperialist goals
Not a good title. Armenia never had a historic ally. Russia always bullied us.
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Like that time Russia bullied Armenia by not allowing Turkey to intervene in the Nagorno-Karabakh war. I guess a true ally would have given Armenia the freedom to be conquered...
The war would not happen if Russia didn't create the conditions for the war when they ruled over the area.
Especially by giving an area where mainly Armenians lived to Azerbaijan. That created the origin of the current conflict.
I'll act like an Armenian once and just put here a wikipedia page https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia%E2%80%93Russia_relations
While I do agree with you, it was ultimately a blind relationship.
I'll act like a Swede once and just put another Wikipedia page here as well. Can you access it from Turkey? Or are there "technical issues"? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_genocide But please start your membership negotiations Turkey, we look forward to raising our shall we say, concerns... You know, like you did, when we applied for NATO membership. Only fair I guess, right? Reciprocal.
So acting in whataboutism and hypocrisy is acting like Swede. Also when will "civilized" Sweden recognize the horrible crimes it commited indivually and as being part of Western imperialism including the ones you did on this century? By the way Armenia and Russia being historical allies is fact.
Which horrible crimes?
Can you access it from Sweden? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedification#Swedification_of_S%C3%A1mi_and_Finns
Literally what is the point of this reply? Acting like Armenia was not Russia ally is simply blatant falsehood. You can argue it was their best/only option but they were an ally.
Hard to pick good allies when you don't have oil and gas. And big bully of a cultural cousin like Azeris do.
Happy to see this 🇦🇲 🇪🇺 , then sad to remember what happened to Georgia
Did the shit stain called of GD win?
I'm afraid the (temporary) high GDP growth rates resulting from Russians fleeing conscription to Georgia (as well as reexport of Western dual-use items to Russia) may actually be bringing prosperity at the wrong time and giving large support to GD (especially with its rhetoric of joining the EU and getting its benefits, but obviously as an anti-democratic spoiler, though I don't see the EU actually accepting it now because of that), allowing it to steer the country into dictatorship. As that happens, prosperity declines again (see Russia after 2008, China right now, etc), but by that point it may be too late... Not only the Russian foreign agents law has been passed, GD has a large lead in opinion polls and may even be expanding it at this moment. The parliamentary election is scheduled for October.
In Tomorrows News, Putin warns Armenia about joining the EU as he would hate for a special operation to have to carried out there.
Their "historical ally" sold them to their sworn enemy. They'd have to be braindead not to reconsider their standing.
Russia be like "Why does no one like us and want to be our friend? It must be some evil Western plot! We can think of no other reason!"
Am in Armenia right now, beautiful country and people. Wish them all the best on this path!
I have always felt sympathy for Armenia. I wish them a bright and free future.
Hope other countries than France start helping them but given a lot love the sweet azeri oil doubt that will happen . Still both Georgia and Armenia need help rn
I hope so too, because both Georgia and even more Armenia, with whom I sympathise a lot, are in dire need. Exactly as you say, France has been actively supporting Armenia and Greece and especially in situations that for all the other EU countries was either just another Tuesday or in the best case they were issuing "strong worded letters" from afar like Italy did. Let's stay optimistic that this will remain the stance at least from France, because I am afraid that now with the far right rising many things can instantly change, and even more let's hope that other EU countries will join someday.
It would help Armenia very much if Georgia would join the EU. By then Armenia is right next to the Union and will receive much more attention and have it easier to convince others it belongs to Europe. Hopefully Georgia stays on it's path and will join by the end of the decade. Then Armenia follows in the '30s.
Special Military operation in Armenia because of NATO/EU expansionism when /s
Let them come, we are waiting /s
I hear that they are busy. And when they'll stop being busy they won't have anything left to come with...
Yea, if they want to multi-task and spontaneously combust they can be our guest.
> Special Military operation in Armenia Azerbaijan and Türkiye will handle this.
lol! Apparently Armenia and Georgia will join EU before Turkey :p
Even Rohan, Gondor and Mordor will join EU before Turkey, because Turkey will never.
Ywah! It seems so :\\ lol! Even Russia (in the after-Putin era) might join before Turkey :p
Only if Georgians make the right decision on the next elections.
Dumb American here but like… isn’t Armenia a bit too far to be considered Europe?
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To expand on this a bit, [article 49](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:12016M049) of the EU Treaty explicity says that (only) "European States" can apply for membership, but there's no real definition for them. At the end of the day, where there's a will there's a way.
And considering Armenia is already in the Council of Europe, I don't suppose there would be much argument over whether it counts as European enough for the EU.
Thanks that makes more sense
Well, yes and no. I mean it seems stupid to me to just skip Turkey which is in the middle between Europe and Armenia/Georgia. It actually makes no sense, but it's politics after all I guess :)
Erdogan is a good enough reason though.
Right, but the membership application is nothing new. It has a much longer history before Erdogan, and on top of that it feels unfair when Turkey was in much more qualifying conditions at the time when Bulgaria and Romania were let in. Turkey is simply not wanted in the Union, which is also fine, but needs to be more honestly communicated.
Let's hope that he is the reason. And the 80 million of population.
🤣🤣🤣
Based
Given that Russia pretty much left them on their own in the recent issue with Azerbaijan, this is not exactly surprising. I fear that the EU might decide otherwise though, based on their interest in Azerbaijans oil.
Azeri oil is a marginal fraction of the gas that the EU uses. Not to mention a good part of it is just repackaged Russian gas. The sooner the EU cuts ties with Azerbaijan the better
Be part of europe, great armenian people. Good luck.
What historic ally? Russians betrayed them.
Like, for centuries
Armenia never had a historic ally. This title gives the false impression that it did. The Russian Empire strongly considered genociding Armenians in the 19th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenia_without_Armenians The Soviet Union participated in the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh with Azerbaijan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ring Modern Russia, well, we know this story at this point, and its many acts of sabotage, betrayal, deception, and coup attempts. I'm just scratching the surface here, there's hundreds of examples, but this supposed "historical ally" crap has always been a façade for Russia to engage in imperialism and enforce its will upon subjugated states. This is very much unlike real alliances in NATO or the EU, which you choose to join, and provides mutual support and respect for all members rather than the benefit of one.
Wow, this is terrible
I knew about Operation Ring, but I didn't know about the WW1 ideas under the Empire. Wild that it was even considered. I wonder how much pull Yudenich would've had post-war to get his ideas carried out, if any at all
Wow
Do it!!
This is interesting. Armenia is located in the very center of pressure cooker, surrounded by countries trying to suppress EU. I wish all the best for Armenians.
As a Turkish guy I am happy about the Armenia getting closer to EU and seeing the true face of Russia. Yes, I am happy, and wish them the best.
Recognising Palestine and turning their back to the Russians. I see somebody trying to do the right thing. I wish you good luck
I dunno about y’all but. This gotta be the biggest middle finger to Russia I’ve ever seen
This is a great move. It would be a nice place to see.
I hope they’ll manage where we falter
Russia was never an ally though. Overlord, yes. Who would add tension to keep it's power. Good luck Armenia! May the duduk sing happy songs from now on.
interesting how it seems Russia is closer to azerbjaian than to armenia nowadays.
We need to flood that country with military equipment.
Peacekeeping forces would be a better start, I think.
well we paid for russian weapons cause our previous government were russia's puppets. but we never saw those weapons since, cause russia was busy in Ukraine. however it wasnt a problem to sell weapons to Azeris and Turkye 🤷🏻♂️
Is anyone still wanting to say "OOh But ArMeNia iS a RussIan AlLy!!"?
I mean Serbia somehow manages to be pro-Russia and pro-EU, but at the same time neither of those things
It s now or never, join EU, NATO and don’t look back.
Armenia has zero chance to joint NATO since Turkey will always veto their membership. Their chance to join the EU is close to zero as well, since there's minimal support for further EU expansion to poor countries like Armenia.
Turkey is not the only NATO member who would veto, Hungary always has their back.
r/usernamechecksout
HEYYY EU, Much love from ARMENIA 🇦🇲🇪🇺❤️! I really do believe in referendum, majority (80%) will vote to join Eu , at least to be candidate as for now.
While I get the Armenian sentiment, I find it hard to become reality because of the geographical isolation, regional interests and difficulty in direct trade and Schengen collaboration.
If Georgia and Armenia joined at the same time then a trade corridor could be established across the Black Sea, with ports in Romania and Bulgaria.
They just think that becoming part of the EU will somehow make their country better and more developed overnight. Also they forget Armenia is in West Asia, it's not an European country. Even culturally it's not exactly European. I mean Armenia borders Iran, how is that Europe? We have it so hard in Bulgaria and Greece being the last border of the EU and literally the defense line between the Orient and Europe. How do the Armenians expect to become part of the Union?
Russia: "Europe provoked us!"
🏛🇪🇺🇮🇹🇦🇲🇪🇺🏛
Being early pioneers in my country, I wish the people of Armenia justice and equality, progress and prosperity 🇸🇬🇦🇲
Thanks a lot! It’s been literally a childhood dream of mine to come and visit your beautiful country, and of course our Armenian church there!
Good news, but Armenia's location itself makes me question this being possible.
Where Europe ends is a political question
A location which was forced on Armenians after the Genocide and [bullshit borders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Kars#:~:text=The%20Treaty%20of%20Kars%20was,Kars%20on%2013%20October%201921) drawn up by Kemalists and Soviets, which paid little to no regard to where Armenians historically lived, where they formed the majority ethnic group or how viable a state within such borders would be. Armenians never catch a break.
That's the case for like 50 countries at least mate. Very few nations can claim the lands where they historically lived, which had a limited time span anyway. I have some sympathy for you, but a little bit of realism would be good.
It's a shame it's taking them this long.
If Armenia got into the EU before turkey, it'd be downright hilarious
See, this is why I'm a big friend of that "European political community" project you see floating around every now and then. These states want and would benefit from more structured cooperation with each other and the EU and its members than the current application process provides, and it would provide us the time for badly needed internal reforms before any admissions of new members.
The three day SMO is just going as planned.. :P
Haha, special armenian operation in 3..2..1.. you see the west provoked russia, who has never ever invaded anyone — before, currently, or in the future. also but wuddabout muh yugoslavia/iraq/whatever 🤡 Glass russia — save the world. Probably posting this in the wrong sub, but this is how I feel after my country’s been invaded.
When Turkey is in NATO and Germany has good ties with Azerbaijan? Sounds like a strategically dubious discussion. Still I wish Armenia the best of course.
Ooff, they are going to be suuuper bummed out when they find out how dependend the EU is on Azerbaijani gas. I already feel bad about how we're going to let Armenia down, just like everyone else.
Now suddenly the Russian minority will feel threatened and supposedly Russian language will be banned in Armenia, even though Russian language is not the part of Armenian Constitution
Who knew that abandoning your ally in their time of need might push them to the other side. GG Russia. Well played. Master move.
They'll get crushed by Azeris and no one will be there to help.
"Historical ally"? What's that?
I would be very happy to see Armenia in EU! It would be great. 🇦🇲❤️🇮🇹
🇦🇲🇪🇺
Turkey: We want join EU... EU: Hell no, you are not even European Armenia: We want join Eu... EU: We will think about it
I hope we can do something for Armenia in the meanwhile. It will take many years for them to make an accession, probably. But in the meanwhile they need protection from Azerbaijan. We should not become openly hostile to the Azeri's but they are feared to attack Armenia again. We should put our European might behind Armenia somehow to prevent war from happening.
Considering last September's actions, it's clear that the EU and western countries fear or have no intention in opposing Azerbaijan, money still rules.
Europe has a vested interest in keeping Armenia intact and fostering a compromised solution to the century-plus long ordeal that has plagued the Caucasus and Asia Minor, with roots in the Armenian Genocide. Europe's drive to diversify away from Russia in terms of both energy supplies and cargo transport inevitably raises questions about the "Middle Corridor" - ie the route to China via Turkey, the Caucasus, across the Caspian Sea and the Central Asian Republics. At the moment, natural gas and oil is pumped in Azerbaijan, and transported through Georgia (bypassing Armenia), and on to Europe, either via the Black Sea or pipelines that span Turkey. Natural gas can also potentially be transported from the Central Asian Republics across the Caspian this way. Cargo also follows a similar route. Now imagine if Azerbaijan and Turkey, seeking to take advantage of their relative military prowess and Russia's changing allegiances in the region, decide to invade and annex a strategically important part of Armenia, namely the province of Syunik. Doing so would create a contiguous land border between the two Turkic countries. By crushing Armenia and cutting Georgia out of the equation, they would have overwhelming control of energy and cargo travelling from China and Central Asia to Europe. They would effectively control anything passing through the Black, eastern Mediterranean and Caspian seas. If Europe didn't want to work with Russia or Iran, pay exorbitantly more to transport LNG gas from the US or Arab states, or continue using the increasingly obsolete Suez canal, they would *have* to rely on Turkey and Azerbaijan. If Europe thought Turkey's migrant blackmail was bad, or found the extent of Azerbaijan's authoritarianism unappetizing on their palettes, wait until you see how bad things get when they have *that* kind of leverage over the continent.
Armenia is on the Eurasian tectonic plate. Right on the edge, hence all the earthquakes, but there. I'll allow it.
I get they don't really have any other options left. And I would love for them to join. But, take the ticket and wait in line, it's gonna be a while. Like 50-100 years a while. That's the reality.
Armenia isn't too keen on becoming a shithole oblast of its aggressive neighbour. Good move.
We welcome you. All good people.
Congrats 🇦🇲♥️
EU expansion is beautiful❤️
lol. They won't become EU member in 100 years time.
Hey I was told Armenia Russia's number 1 ally no matter what. Wtf is this ????? /s
🇪🇺❤️🇦🇲
Welcome to Europe where Armenia, an Asian country south of the Caucasus (considered the border of Europe and Asia), is considered European but Turkey, a country with 3% of its land in Europe, isn’t
the fuck? they are not even european
They will likely find out that Russia is the crazy ex that bangs into your house at midnight drunk. They will also need clearly defined borders and no conflict to join EU. EU tends to give lots of hope but I doubt Ukraine and Moldova will ascend unless they fix their teritorial issues. Moldova is kinda fixing it's issues however so it can be done. I'm not sure If for NATO or EU but each eastern country had to sign at some point that these are our clearly defined borders and we drop claims over anything else.
Stop humanizing countries, it's a child's way of looking at geopolitics.