Brussels came out of a certain shock; it remains for the RA authorities to prove their sincerity
The EU Foreign Affairs Council authorized the European Commission to launch negotiations with Armenia on a new legal basis, in other words, an official mandate is given to launch a talk for a new agreement with our country. This, definitely, is a very important step for Armenia. The mistrust shaped after the failure of the EU Association Agreement, the uncertainty in official Yerevan and Brussels remained in the past and this is a positive fact.
Even official Brussels realizes the accession of Armenia to the Eurasian Economic Union, or more precisely, its being inprospective and does not want to lose its partners. This is also praiseworthy. The decision of Armenia to access the Eurasian Economic Union was not made by the consent of the public, which means that in terms of the choice of universal values, our society does not tend towards the Eurasian Economic Union, no matter how thousands of RA citizens are working in Russia and supporting their families financially. Anyway, everyone is seeking to deal with more advanced, stable and legitimate countries than with Russia and its allies. The Armenia-EU relations, of course, are new opportunities in terms of regulating the trade and economic relations.
No one, of course, has an idea how it is possible under Armenia’s commitments to the Eurasian Economic Union. It is clear that ‘s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union already assumes certain restrictions, one way or another. This means that Brussels will take this fact into account and is already ready for it. In fact, the negotiation process will start soon to determine the future of Armenia-European Union relations, and it is possible that in the Armenia-EU negotiations, the role of a third party, Russia’s, will be even taking into account. Perhaps, only in this way, Moscow will allow Armenia to have a relationship with Brussels and to bring the new-level relations in the form of documentation.
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This document most likely will have both political and economic element, and everyone realizes that if everything is not so difficult by political element, there would truly be complications on the economic part because Armenia has restricted itself because of the accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. On the political element, it will require only sincerity and political will from the authorities of Armenia. The time for speeches reminding of toasts to true democracy in Armenia, rule of law, human rights, freedom of mass media, fight against corruption and elimination of monopolies in the business should go away. Either specific steps should be made to define and enhance the universal values, or no one will allow any formalities.
Certainly, the new EU document will not have the impact, significance and the scope of the Association Agreement, but everything is not over. After a certain shock, the official Brussels showed that it is ready to accept official Yerevan’s “and-and” policy. If the long-lasting statements voiced by the official Yerevan that Armenia seeks to deepen relations with the EU are truly sincere, then what remains for the Armenian authorities to prove in practice that they are ready to implement all the steps that our country will bring closer to the European universal values.
Emma GABRIELYAN, “Aravot” daily
