There is a truly Armenian atmosphere at the Embassy of Armenia to Germany: Armenian carpets, cross-stones, dried apricot and peach on the table, the guests are served tea made of peach and thyme. The Armenian journalists visited Germany under the joint program of Deutsche Gesellschaft organization and the Yerevan Press Club, and they met with Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Armenia to Germany Ashot Smbatyan. When our accession to the Eurasian Union, Armenia was perceived by the EU as a non-reliable partner.
To the question whether he feels the impact of the September 3 decision, the ambassador replied, “Frankly speaking, I was appointed in October 15, 2013, and when I arrived, there was so much pressure. France and Germany were among the first ones who approached with understanding, also later, France and Germany were among the first ones saying that there should be no either-or but “as well as”.
As to what extent the accession to the Eurasian Economic Union was correct, the ambassador gave the following assessment, “I am obliged to follow and abide by the provisions of the RA foreign policy. Today, Armenia’s economic demand was the Eurasian Economic Union, let us be frank in the economic sense. Cognac that is considered to be the most established brand in Armenia, let’s see how many companies produce cognac in Armenia, except for Pernod Ricard, which is capable of exporting cognac abroad, I do not know any other companies. Go and persuade the manufacturer, you know what, export your cognac to Brussels, let it first pass the tests, receive a certificate that it is a genuine cognac, and meets the standards of cognac or the brandy that are designed in Brussels, after all that you will come to Europe, spend so much money for advertising, hire someone for a month to stand in this company, to sell and persuade, and afterwards you will try to find a room in the European market and yet it is still a question whether you will find a room or not.”
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To the observation that even after joining the Eurasian Economy Union, Armenia’s economy is not activated, he replied, “Do you think that unfavorable numbers of Armenia’s economy are because of the accession to the EaEU or because of Russia’s sanctions in general? Most of them are as a result of the sanctions, be sure.” Then, the ambassador began to analyze why it is more advantageous for us to join the EaEU and not the EU. “No matter how we love and fell in love with our apricot, which is good, but we know how short the shelf life of our apricot is. Try to export the same apricot to the European market along with the Spanish and French tasteless and odorless apricot. It is very difficult to withstand the competition for our apricot. We say honey, our honey. Do you know what types of honey are there in Europe? Armenian wine is just begun to be slowly imported, moreover, I do not know how long our wines will live here, whether they will keep the bottle lying down or up. I mean, let’s talk about what we have. Plus the electricity problem and the most importantly, the security issue.”
To our observation that in the long-run to work for the European market, we would have successes, the ambassador replied, “But for long-run success, you at least should have a short-run ideas. Did we have it?”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
