YEREVAN, July 1. /TASS/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan says there is no need to hold a referendum on EU accession at this time, but believes the people of the republic want to join the union.

"They say we should hold a referendum to show that people support the idea of joining the EU. I have stated that Armenia is ready to move as close to the EU as the EU will allow. If I didn’t think that the Armenian people shared this sentiment, I would not have made such a statement. If we hold a referendum, we have to campaign. In that case people will ask us questions: how, when, does the EU want it or not? People will ask whether the EU is ready to receive us. I can't give an answer to that question, because there are processes going on inside the EU as well, which at least raise questions related to the election results. We have declared our political will at the highest level," he noted at the session of the Armenian Forum for Democracy, which was attended by EU and US ambassadors, as well as representatives of international and non-governmental organizations.

Several pro-Western political groups in Armenia have united under one platform and are demanding that the country's authorities hold a referendum on EU accession. They recently held hearings in parliament, during which they placed an EU flag on the podium and made harsh anti-Russian statements.