In recent days, Yerevan has become one of the most important centres of European diplomacy. Leaders of nearly fifty countries arrived in the Armenian capital to take part in the 8th summit of the European Political Community. Although the main part of the meeting was scheduled for 4 May, political talks had already begun over the weekend, with the arrival of delegations and informal meetings between leaders. This year’s summit is being held under the motto “Building the Future: Unity and Stability in Europe.”
The summit in Yerevan is significant not only because of the scale of the event, but also because of where it is taking place. Armenia, for decades perceived as a country strongly tied to Russia, has been increasingly seeking a new balance in its foreign policy. After the wars over Nagorno-Karabakh and growing disappointment with Moscow’s position, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government began strengthening relations with the West. Hosting such a major gathering of European leaders in Yerevan is therefore a clear signal: Armenia wants to move closer to Europe, and Europe wants to become more involved in the South Caucasus.
The agenda of the meeting includes security, democratic resilience, economic cooperation, energy, as well as transport and digital connectivity. Leaders are expected to discuss how to coordinate their actions in a period of profound geopolitical change, growing hybrid threats and continued pressure from Russia. The summit is co-chaired by European Council President António Costa and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
One of the main topics of discussion remains Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky is present in Yerevan, and meetings with him have been planned by a number of European leaders, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. According to announcements from the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland, Tusk was expected to take part in talks concerning Ukraine, European security and resilience to hybrid threats. For Poland, the summit is therefore another opportunity to emphasise that Ukraine’s security remains part of the security of Europe as a whole.
A new element of the meeting is Canada’s participation. Prime Minister Mark Carney was invited as the first leader of a non-European country to attend a European Political Community summit. This is an important political signal: a format that was initially intended as a platform for talks between European states and their closest partners is beginning to acquire broader transatlantic significance. Canada’s presence can also be interpreted as a gesture of support for Armenia at a time when the country is trying to reduce its dependence on Russia.
The Yerevan summit also serves as a prelude to the first-ever bilateral European Union–Armenia summit, scheduled for 4–5 May. That meeting is expected to focus on deepening political and economic relations, including cooperation in energy, transport, digitalisation and strengthening the state’s resilience to external interference. According to media reports, the European Union is also preparing expert support for Armenia in countering Russian disinformation, cyberattacks and attempts to influence political processes.
The significance of the event therefore goes far beyond ordinary diplomatic routine. Yerevan has become a place where three processes intersect: Russia’s war against Ukraine, the redefinition of European security, and Armenia’s attempt to anchor itself politically closer to the West. For Armenia itself, this is an opportunity to show that it does not want to be merely a peripheral state located between Russia, Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan, but an active participant in discussions about the future of the continent.
The informal nature of the European Political Community means that no single breakthrough document or spectacular decision should be expected after the summit. The importance of such meetings lies rather in building networks of dialogue, consultation and political signalling. In the case of Yerevan, however, the signal is particularly strong: Europe wants to talk not only about itself, but also about its neighbourhood, the security of the South Caucasus and the future of countries trying to free themselves from Russia’s sphere of influence.
The summit in Armenia shows that the boundaries of Europe’s political debate are moving further east and south. In a world in which war, energy pressure, disinformation and regional instability have become permanent elements of international politics, Yerevan is no longer a distant capital on the margins of the continent. For several days, it has become one of the places where the direction of European security policy is being shaped.
