YEREVAN, May 6. /TASS/. Only a third of Armenia's residents believe in the prospect of the republic's joining the European Union (EU), and at least 18% called the relevant initiative of the ruling Civil Contract party a part of an electoral campaign, a survey conducted by the Gallup International Association revealed.

The poll was carried out from April 29 to May 2 by phone survey, it covered 1,000 people. The statistical margin of error is 3%.

"When asked whether Armenia has prospects of EU membership in the near future, considering the fact that the country's parliament passed the draft law on starting the process of Armenia's accession to the EU in the final reading on March 26, 16.3% of respondents said that it definitely does. Another 20.8% said it probably has such an opportunity, 12.1% believe that it rather does not, 24.6% - definitely not, 7.6% found it difficult to answer, and 18.5% said that this law is a part of preparation for parliamentary elections in 2026," Aram Navasardyan, head of the Armenian office of the Gallup International Association, said.

The survey indicated that 21% of respondents viewed the initiative to impeach Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan positively, 17% of those polled assessed it rather positively than negatively, while 14.2% - rather negatively, 30% gave a negative response, and 17.9% were unsure how to respond.

At the same time, 36.4% of respondents in Armenia believe that the most effective way to remove Pashinyan from power is to hold early elections, 29.8% hint at option with his resignation, 10.1% think people should take to the streets, 5% opt for impeachment, 3.1% gave a different answer, 7.6% found it difficult to answer, and 16.9% said that Pashinyan should not resign as prime minister.

On April 4, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a law initiating the process of the country’s accession to the European Union. Earlier, Pashinyan noted that this would not mean an automatic launch of Yerevan's accession process and that a referendum was needed to decide on launching EU accession. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk said that Russia considers these actions as the beginning of the republic's exit from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as joining the EU is incompatible with the country's membership in the EAEU. At the same time, Armenian Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan claimed that Yerevan was not going to leave the EAEU.