Chaotic situation in EaEU, “settling of accounts” between the member states with remarkable nuances
One year ago, on September 3, Serzh Sargsyan expressed his intention of Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union. But if view the course of the passed one year, Armenia’s Eurasian path, in fact, turned to be quite rocky. Just recently, for instances, Armenia was expecting the visit of the Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, in the framework of off-site meeting of prime ministers of the Eurasian Economic Union member states, but it turned out that the visit was protracted by an indefinite date. Recently, the Prime Minister, Hovik Abrahamyan, announced that the planned Medvedev’s visit in early September would not take place. While a few days ago, Hovik Abrahamyan had mentioned that there is a preliminary agreement that Medvedev will visit Yerevan on September 8-9. “There was an agreement for the prime ministers to visit Armenia, and perform this operation. Now the issue is moved to the presidential level, and as you all know, on October 10, Nazarbayev had announced that they are getting ready for the presidents’ meeting,” clarified Abrahamyan. In mid-August, Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, signed the government decree on approving the draft agreement of Armenia’s accession to the EaEU, and instructed to submit a proposal of signing this agreement to the president of Russia. The Russian Government has approved the draft in its August 7 session. The same should be done by the governments of Kazakhstan and Belarus, as these three countries are considered to be the founding members of the Eurasian Union.
However, so far there is no clarity as to when eventually Armenia will join this alliance. The journalists were interested to know from Armenia’s Foreign Minister, Edward Nalbandyan, whether it is possible that the agreement of Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Union will not be signed this year. “The process is underway, and I think the results will be relevant soon,” responded the RA Foreign Minister. On September 1, the president of Russia had submitted the document on “Eurasian Economic Union” to the Russian Duma for ratification, which months ago was signed by the presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in Astana.
But, recently, a real scandal took place between the member states of the organization. Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, threatened to withdraw from the composition of the Eurasian Union if he disagrees with the decisions adopted by the organization. A few days ago, the Kazakh president announced, “The establishment of the Economic union is not political, it is true. When the presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus come together, if one of them is against, then no decision is taken. This is called a consensus. All have equal rights. Kazakhstan has always the right to withdraw from the Union, if we do not agree on something. We have entered into the Customs Union, and if earlier we were paying for passing the goods through the border of Russia, then we do not pay anything now, and we are talking about 6 million tenge. Therefore, the price for goods was increased. Could we compete with foreign products on such prices? We could not, here’s how much benefits there were for our state.”
Read also
Nazarbayev explained that if the rules, which previously were endorsed in the agreement, are not implemented, so Kazakhstan has the right to refuse the EaEU membership. “Astana will never be in the composition of the organization, which constitutes a danger to the independence of Kazakhstan.” Kazakh leader probably has a reason to once again show Moscow its “place”. On August 29, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, at the Youth “Seliger” gathering said that Kazakhstan has never been a state, emphasizing the role of Nursultan Nazarbayev in establishment of a new state. Putin hinted that Kazakhstan has become a state in the recent past.
According to Putin, Kazakh President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, has made an exceptional deed and has established a state in the territory, where there has never been a state. “In this respect, he is an exceptional man for the post-Soviet statehood.” Putin has qualified Nazarbayev as a very wise and experienced leader who is constantly thinking about the future of the country. “He has never acted against the will of his people. He gently feels what the people expect.” Putin, probably, in his turn, “responded” to Nazarbayev in this gathering. The point is that on August 26, at the Minsk meeting with the President of Ukraine, Poroshenko, Nazarbayev announced that the Association Agreement signed between the EU and Ukraine will not do harm to Russia’s partner Kazakhstan on the Customs Union. Moreover, the Kazakh president also promised to cooperate effectively with Ukraine. This probably had made the president of Russia nervous, and he reminded that “Kazakhs have never had a statehood.”
And generally, it is not the first time that Kazakhstan opposes Moscow projects in the EaEU. Due to the very efforts of Nazarbayev, Putin failed making the Eurasian Union into a political union, and he had to be satisfied with the establishment of an economic union. In the result of Nazarbayev’s stance, the clauses that were restraining the sovereignty of member states were left out from the founding agreement. Kazakhstan’s president has repeatedly said that the idea of the Eurasian Union belongs to him, but each time he also emphasizes that it is just an economic union. A few days ago, Nazarbayev also hinted that unit weight of the Russian population in the country is gradually going down, and the Russian language in Kazakhstan has already been formally declared as a state language. Kazakhstan’s president, apparently, makes it clear that the Russian population in his country ceases to be a tool for Russia, like it was in Ukraine.”
Interestingly, it has already begun to “throw stones” from Russia in the direction of Kazakhstan. Russian Liberal-Democratic Party leader, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who often comes up with “suggestions” pleasing the “ear” of the Kremlin, recently, at the “Echo of Moscow” radio station on the air, declared that after the events in Ukraine, Russia needs to deal with Kazakhstan, where, in his opinion, “anti-Russian sentiments are prevailing everywhere.” In this rather chaotic situation, the Armenian authorities encounter the complexities of membership to Eurasian path, full of uncertainties, where not only Armenia’s accession is accepted indefinitely, but also these member states are settling “accounts” with each other with quite remarkable nuances.
Emma GABRIELYAN
