Hovhannes Igityan does not see a major opportunity in Armenia’s European integration at this moment
– What has changed during a couple of hours that Serzh Sargsyan made a unilateral and abrupt decision? Still not so long ago the RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan was stating that Armenia has nothing to do with the Customs Union, he, Serzh Sargsyan, has repeatedly said that Armenia, integration of Armenia with the EU has no alternative, the RA Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan stated that “if you become a member of the Customs Union, you are not a sovereign anymore”, a few hours before the Moscow statement, prominent Republicans were insisting that Armenia’s place is in Europe, and this is our choice after gaining independence, and that we should not expect surprises from the meeting in Moscow.
– In fact, everything changed during one night, because the previous day, the officials were announcing that Armenia is headed to Europe, and the Russian visit is purely a working one. I do not know, maybe we should ask Serzh Sargsyan what pressure was exerted on him during one night. If it’s really a pressure, let him say. If he feels weak and his political team is not be able to support and strengthen him, even taking into account the fact that he was elected by fraudulent elections, he is not a legitimate president, if the pressure is exerted on Armenia, I am ready to stand next to him, to eliminate the pressure, and then again abandon him. The matter is about the dignity of Armenia, the country and the people. Pressure is exerted on a person and not Armenia. The person is weak and not Armenia. If you can not confront, leave or ask for support from the strong. What happened, I do not know. The citizens of Armenia have a right to know, don’t they, to know what pressure was exerted by our strategic partner on Serzh Sargsyan and Armenia. I even do not know what Serzh Sargsyan has signed, except for the statement that he was reading over TV with trembling hands and grim face. He has signed a piece of paper, but what paper is that. All those talking about Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement, the EU Association Agreement to be confidential, may now speak about the document that has already been signed by the President.
They are documents of 1000-1200 pages, even if it was confidential, but there was a piece of paper, and the process was going on, some bilateral suggestions were going on, some things were changing. Moreover, I even have some information from my European colleagues, and with my modest capabilities, I was trying to support both the European and Armenian sides. We could see that it was a negotiation process, and we were going to sign some kind of a document, around which the parties had come to compromise. Serzh Sargsyan is going to Moscow, by the way, even an hour ago, he is not saying that he is going to discuss something, and suddenly he signs a document. What does it mean? What obligations does he impose on Armenia? If you were sold, at least, we need to know the price that we were paid.
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What do we know today? The journalists, active politicians, even people standing next to Serzh Sargsyan, I am sure, have the same information. In other words, Serzh Sargsyan, in one night, changed his mind by 180 degrees, and our four, I would say 22 years of path to integration goes to the pot in a disgraceful manner, and signs something with the RF President, and we enter a structure that
we do not know what it is. Instead, Putin gives Armenia the Moscow State University branch, and 2-3 Russian gymnasiums. I do not know whether this is a good of the first essential consumption for Armenia as of today, and whether we are in need for it at this moment. I do not think the we are in need for education, today the whole world is open, he probably does not know that our children are graduating from prestigious international universities, we have opportunities everywhere, just a question of money. We are not some ignorant tribe that Putin comes and opens Russian gymnasiums… we know the place of those gymnasiums, and the Moscow University, and, as of today, the best students of the Moscow University are Armenians.
It was said that Putin will give half a billion dollars to the Russian railway. When is he going to give it? In what form? Where will be the money going to? Maybe for the administrative use? In other words, Putin gives money from his pocket to his state institution. So, what do we care? The railway administration has been handed over to the RF, and now let’s not talk about its being right or wrong, I think it was very wrong.
Is this the opportunity that Armenia should receive from that humiliating behavior of Serzh Sargsyan?
– Different politicians expressed opinions that Sargsyan’s statement was not ‘the end’, and that Armenia should continue the integration process with the EU. After what had happened, do you see such an opportunity?
– I understand what the RF is, how the RF operates, how it can punish, but I also see how the RF treats even with smaller countries, who are talking with the RF with brave and dignified way. For example, a year ago, Azerbaijan abruptly refused to join the Customs Union, and terminated any process in the framework of the Eurasian Union, it was announced. After that, the RF’s steps: immediately economic co-operation, contracts on exchange of energy, selling of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction, and so on. I understand the opportunities of Armenia and Azerbaijan, but let’s take the example of the Ukraine. The pressure on Ukraine is clearly observed by economic outcomes by violating even the WTO obligations.
But Ukraine announced about its being an observer to the Eurasian Union, and stated that it will be connected to the Customs Union so far as it is not contrary to its obligations to join the WTO and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. The complementarity is apparent here. Serzh Sargsyan, with his actions, lost even this small and short-term flexibility.
Here, I do not see any opportunity to be seriously going in the direction of European integration. In any case, I think that what Serzh Sargsyan did was related to the situation and his weakness. The situation is changing, people are changing. A man, who can change its intention overnight by 180 degrees, there is no guarantee that during another night or the daytime Serzh Sargsyan will not change his mind, and Armenia will continue its process towards the establishment of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. In any case, I and many other politicians, consider our duty to inform the public, why not the authorities, to present the benefits and opportunities that the European integration will give to us.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
