YEREVAN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The National Assembly of Armenia voted unanimously on Wednesday to ratify the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement the country signed with the European Union (EU) in November, local Armenpress reported.
In the days leading up to the vote on the landmark deal in Armenia's parliament, no political faction voiced any critical objections to the agreement with the European bloc.
One of the key aspects of the deal is the launch of the visa liberalization dialogue with Armenia, which the ex-Soviet republic wants to achieve in the near future following the granting of visa-free regimes by the EU to other former Soviet states like Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia's northern neighbor Georgia.
However, unlike these former Soviet countries, Armenia has close strategic ties with Russia in nearly all realms and is seen as Russia's last stronghold in the South Caucasus.
Armenia is a full member of the Russia-led five-member Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which also embraces Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It is the first EEU member to sign such an accord with the EU.
Armenia is also a full member of the military alliance of Collective Security Treaty Organization, which emerged in 1992 shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It currently has six permanent members with Serbia and Afghanistan engaged as observers.
The agreement Armenia signed in November with the EU now needs to be ratified by the European Parliament to take effect following such procedures in the legislatures of all EU member states.
