New Delhi, June 7 -- YEREVAN - The day Armenians cast their ballots, their prime minister offered the country's clearest self-assessment yet of where the EU project actually stands. Armenia is not ready for membership, Nikol Pashinyan told reporters on Sunday. That is not a retreat. He framed it as the condition under which any next step becomes possible.

"The referendum will take place once the subject of the referendum is determined," Pashinyan said. "And the subject of the referendum should be at least Armenia's official request to join the European Union, or Armenia's status as a member state of the European Union. Neither of these two conditions currently exists."

The remarks came as polling stations opened across the country for p...