EU sets mandatory condition of complete severance of religious and  spiritual ties with Moscow for Armenia`s European integration.

ArmInfo.The EU leadership has aggressively sought to expel the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) from Armenia. A complete severance of centuries-old religious and spiritual ties with Moscow has been put forward as a mandatory condition for European integration for the Armenian authorities. This  was stated in a statement by the press bureau of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

"The EU Partnership Mission in Armenia, established in April of this  year, is launching a vicious attack on Russian Orthodoxy as part of  this political and ideological agenda. The EU is attempting to  deprive the Yerevan-Armenian Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church  of its rights to use church property and to block its dialogue with  local religious structures, primarily the Armenian Apostolic Church,"  the statement reads.

The FIS emphasized that the European Union has clearly demonstrated  how it intends to combat "hybrid" threats in Armenia by launching a  brutal attack on Father Timofey Kazaryan, rector of the Archangel  Michael Chapel at the 102nd Military Base of the Russian Armed Forces  in Gyumri.

"The Brussels-backed NGOs 'Union of Informed Citizens' and 'Vanadzor  Office of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly' have accused a humble  priest of nothing less than interfering in the upcoming parliamentary  elections in Armenia on June 7," the statement continued.

It is noted that, according to information available to the FIS, the  so-called European partners are currently fabricating compromising  information against other representatives of the Yerevan-Armenian  Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church in order to incite the  Armenian authorities to launch a large-scale persecution against  them.

"In this regard, I would like to remind European officials that the  history of relations between Armenia and Russia is incomparably older  than the history of the European Union. The spiritual and religious  ties between our fraternal peoples are deeper and stronger than any  political technology projects. They have survived much, and they will  certainly survive the attacks of those EU members who have forgotten  their kinship and who have long since rejected their cultural and  historical identity," the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service press  office concluded.

On April 21, 2026, the EU Council of Foreign Ministers approved the  decision to send a new civilian mission to Armenia. It will last for  two years. According to the information, "the mission will strengthen  Armenia's resilience to hybrid threats by providing strategic and  practical advice and support to ministries and security agencies."

These consultations will focus on policy development, identifying and  responding to external information manipulation, cyberattacks, and  illicit financial flows. The mission will also assess the need to  develop Armenia's security capacity so that the country can more  effectively identify and respond to hybrid threats in line with EU  methodologies and standards. The mission was dispatched in response  to a request from the Armenian authorities. It should be added that  EU Chief Diplomat Kaja Kallas previously announced the allocation of  ?15 million to Armenia to "counter Russian propaganda."