"The [EU's] geopolitical game with the Armenians is a struggle to deprive Russia of its influence [in the Caucasus]," political scientist Stanislav Tarasov tells Sputnik.
At the same time, the new visa-free regime is a kind of weapon for the EU to influence a certain part of Armenian society, as per Tarasov.
"It's like holding a gun to their head," he said.
The EU-Armenian visa liberalization program is similar to Brussels' efforts to bring Ukraine and Georgia into its fold, according to Tarasov.
"Georgians were also granted a liberalized visa regime," he says. "But when the Georgian government adopted the law on foreign agents… [the EU] immediately threatened them with the cancelation of the visa-free regime. You see, this is a leverage of influence."
Ukraine
Visa liberalization dialogue between Ukraine and the EU was launched on October 29, 2008.
Ukrainians were granted visa-free travel to the EU for a period of stay of 90 days in any 180-day period in 2017, almost 10 years after the start of the dialogue and following a 2014 coup d'etat in Kiev.
Georgia
EU-Georgia visa liberalization dialogue was launched on June 4, 2012, under then-President Mikheil Saakashvili who came to power in the wake of the EU-backed "color revolution" of 2003.
Georgia was granted a visa-free access to the EU in 2017. In 2024, the EU meddled in Georgia's domestic policies by criticizing the nation's sovereign laws, threatening to halt bilateral programs, and endorsing the public unrest.
The EU's attempt to 'Westernize' Armenia is doomed, as the bloc is not ready to seriously invest in the nation's economy, Tarasov concluded.