According to David Shahnazaryan, otherwise it would mean that Kremlin’s pressure affected also Brussels
“The European Union has no plans to finalize an Association Agreement with Armenia at an upcoming EU summit in Lithuania,” Sweden’s Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Monday. Writing on his Twitter account, Bildt said he and his visiting Slovak counterpart Miroslav Lajcak agreed at a meeting in Stockholm that the deal with Yerevan is “now off the table.” “We work with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia,” he added.
Aravot.am asked David Shahnazaryan whether this explicit statement made by a high-ranking European official was justified. ‘If the European Union decides after all to take Armenia off the Association Program I think it would be a wrongly calculated, situation-prompted and emotional decision. Brussels must not close the door of opportunities to Armenia because that would mean that Russia’s pressure on Armenia that resulted in its decision to join the Customs Union affected also Brussels,’ he said.
“It would mean that the Kremlin’s imperial ambitions affect Brussels too. Accession to the Customs Union is a prolonged process, a vague path filled with uncertainties and it is a big question whether it will be accomplished or not. The European Union should continue partnership cooperation with the Republic of Armenia within the frames of the Association Program.”
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In response to Aravot.am question whether Europeans had an alternative not to close the door of opportunities to Armenia given the fact that the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement is incompatible with a membership in the Customs Union, Mr. Shahnazaryan said.
‘It is obvious that the DCFTA and a membership in the Customs Union are absolutely incompatible, however one should proceed from the reality that plagued with internal disagreements the Customs Union is actually falling apart and as an organization has neither future nor present.
It is also a big question whether the path which Armenia will have to pass towards the Customs Union membership will accomplish in a way planned by the Kremlin. Rapidly unfolding geopolitical and regional processes do not contribute to Armenia’s full membership in the Customs Union either,’ concluded Mr. Shahnazaryan.
Emma Gabrielyan
