The number of Armenian citizens seeking asylum in the European Union countries has decreased by more than one-third, MP Arman Yeghoyan, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration Affairs, said on social media, citing Eurostat data.
“According to Eurostat, in 2025 the number of Armenian citizens seeking asylum in EU member states was 2,850, which is over 34 percent lower than the same figure in 2024 (4,330 people) and more than 46 percent lower than the annual average during the years of Serzh Sargsyan’s and Tashir Karen Karapetyan’s government (2009–2017), which was 5,280 people. In fact, the only years with fewer applications were the COVID years of 2020 and 2021, clearly due to lockdowns and a sharp reduction in air travel.
I am confident that, alongside the introduction of a universal health insurance system, this number will decrease even further.
I want to immediately respond to all the pessimists who might claim that this decline is related to some physical restrictions on traveling to the EU: in 2025, compared to 2024, air travel between Armenia and the EU actually increased by 178,000 passengers (87,000 more departures and 91,000 more arrivals). This means that the opportunity to physically reach the EU has not decreased; rather, the need and/or desire to seek asylum and remain there has declined. In this respect, 2025 was a breakthrough year,” the lawmaker said on social media.
