Pashinyan intends to transfer responsibility for Armenia’s borders to its national border service
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he intends to gradually transfer responsibility for guarding all the country’s borders to its national border service, ending the involvement of Russian border guards, news.ru reported, citing Sputnik Azerbaijan. He linked this goal to closer ties with the European Union.
According to news.ru, Pashinyan said the republic must steadily bring itself into line with European security standards to achieve this. The outlet paraphrased him as saying that Armenia aims to restore full sovereign control over its borders through the reform.
The transfer of responsibilities to Armenian services has been under way for several years. Russian border guards guarded the republic’s borders with Turkey and Iran, as well as Zvartnots International Airport.
Armenia took control of the airport in 2024 and assumed full control of the Agarak checkpoint on January 1, 2025. News.ru notes that all border crossings on the border with Turkey were expected to be handed over to the national service by 2026.