The topic of “Face to Face” talk show series of Aravot online is discussed between blogger Tigran Kocharyan and “Free Democrats” party Board member Armen Arakelyan.
Aram Abrahamyan – First of all, I would like to know your attitude towards the Eurasian Economic Union, in general. Is this project beneficial for Armenia or not?
Tigran Kocharyan – Neither cold, nor hot. It can be viewed by two perspectives, first – a glance from inside, and the other from outside. We can see that a new geopolitical concept is formed around the world, and it imposes the parties to orient, in other words, not it is very hard to find, for example, Russia, China and the West, any disoriented country beyond these 3 poles, or a country that tries to be maximally independent. In my opinion, there is no such country.
A. A. – In other words, it is “either-or”…
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T. K. – I’m more of a “neither-nor” or “and-and”, but if we are imposed to be a member of a union, given that many factors, I may even say that we would be forced to become a member of the Eurasian Union. Mandatory, but not binding. We all want our country to be independent, our country to prosper, and have so much opportunity that the peer to peer speaks with the elders, so strong physically and morally to give answer to the same Nazarbayev and show him his place. I’m very sorry that we are not in this state of affairs, and there are a lot of factors, ranging from the corrupt system and ending with overall situation, regional situation, the interests of the countries available here, Russian military base and so on. Unfortunately, if we speak of now, the only thing that is left to Armenia is to maneuver to the maximum to have minimum losses.
Armen Arakelyan – I find the Customs Union much more dangerous for Armenia than the Eurasian Union, because yesterday I learned of the Eurasian Economic Union, which has always been kept secret, some things were declassified yesterday, it particularly does not present anything, it is the next stillborn organization, a union with no future. This, of course, is done by Russia to show that it is not an ordinary country, like Indonesia, Turkey and other countries, but aspires to become a super state, a state that unites around. That are the ambitions of Russia, and the Eurasian Union is a bit more dangerous than the Customs Union, because the economic relationship here is put at least in declarative form, and Armenia does not authorize anything from its sovereignty to this structure. In other words, it is not a supranational body, but an advisory coordinating body. And the Customs Union is dangerous by the fact that a supranational body is established whose decisions are binding on all states. Naturally, everything will proceed from the interests of Russia, and any CU decision would be binding for Armenia. Now, for example, our custom fees for 1200 brand is lower than those of the Customs Union, but no concessions is made for Armenia and impose that the customs duties are to the size, which is beneficial for Russia.
A. A. – It means that from the viewpoint of purely pragmatism, the Customs Union is dangerous. Do you agree or not?
T. K. – I would not say that it is dangerous. The Customs Union has its positive sides, too. Otherwise no government of a country would try to take this path. Armenia has repeatedly lost its sovereignty by joining various supranational bodies, the European Court, the OSCE, the World Trade Organization… The decisions of all those organizations were binding for Armenia. And to say that Armenia will lose it sovereignty for the first time under the Customs Union, no. I again say, a globalization is going on, if Armenia, maximum for itself, for economy and demography, is able to maneuver in such a way that the same Customs Union brings nothing else but benefit, or the same EU Association Agreement brings nothing else but benefit, it would be very good and applauded, ultimately, the main purpose for Armenia is to be a developed and prosperous country. I would be direct, saying Armenia I understand the Republic of Armenia and Artsakh.
Prepared by ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
“Face to Face” talk show series are released by the Open Society Foundations- Armenia. The views and analyzes found in this broadcast express the opinions of the participants, and are not approved by the Open Society Foundations-Armenia, or its Board. This broadcast is made available thanks to comprehensive financial support by the Open Society Foundations-Armenia, under the mass media support program, grant No 18624.
