Asylum applications from Armenia to EU drop by one-third

PanARMENIAN.Net - The number of Armenian citizens seeking asylum in the European Union in 2025 dropped significantly, by more than one-third, compared to the previous year. This was reported by the Chair of the Armenian Parliament’s Standing Committee on European Integration, Arman Yeghoyan, on his Facebook page.

“According to Eurostat, in 2025, 2,850 Armenian citizens applied for asylum in EU member states (commonly referred to as having 'surrendered'). This figure is over 34% lower than the 2024 figure of 4,330, and more than 46% lower than the annual average during the administrations of Serzh Sargsyan and Tashir’s Karen Karapetyan (2009–2017), which stood at 5,280,” he wrote.

In fact, fewer applications than this were recorded only in the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021, which were clearly impacted by lockdowns and the dramatic drop in air travel.

“I’m confident that alongside the implementation of the universal health insurance system, this number will drop even further,” Yeghoyan added.

“To preempt the pessimists who might claim that the drop is due to physical restrictions on travel to the EU, let me clarify: in 2025, the number of air passengers traveling between Armenia and the EU increased by 178,000 compared to 2024, with 87,000 more departures and 91,000 more arrivals. So, it’s not that access to the EU has decreased, but rather that the need or desire to seek and remain there through asylum has diminished. And 2025 was a pivotal year in that regard,” he concluded.