Candidate of “Free Democrats” party running for the parliamentary elections, economist Ashot Yeghiazaryan does not exclude the fact that the RA-EU new framework agreement may not be signed. Mr. Yeghiazaryan was invited to a discussion on this subject at the “Media Center”. He noted why the process is left after the elections and how it is connected with the border tensions of recent days, “The EU was ready to sign the document right away. But there were obstacles. The military escalation of recent days cannot but be connected with the fact that Armenia is signing an agreement with the EU. Russia is against it and cannot tolerate it.”
Speaking about the connection of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia and the EU-RA expected document, Mr. Yeghiazaryan said, “The signing of the document also depends on what parliament of the political class will be formed.” Mr. Yeghiazaryan noted that the signed document is very close to the content of the association agreement, “This document is ahead of the previous documents, this will enable Armenia to strengthen its sovereignty as well as the security and most importantly is the sectoral cooperation.”
The former Chairman of the RA NA Committee on Foreign Affairs, Hovhannes Igityan, pertaining to connecting the RA-EU expected agreement with the elections, noted as a remark, “A smile appeared on my face when I imagined that two beating each other Republicans in Ararat are saying to the people, vote for me because we have a framework agreement.” Mr. Igityan is not so much optimistic about the expected agreement, “Unlike the previous association agreement, in this agreement, the provisions on the establishment of free trade zone are almost completely removed, now we are establishing a partnership agreement. The EU says that Armenia is our partner but any unit in the world is also a partner.”
Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, political scientist Sergey Minasyan sees positive trends, “This positive process can contribute to another process: transition to visa liberalization regime, and if this agreement is signed, we will have a great progress in this direction until November.” However, Mr. Minasyan does not exclude the force majeure situations, noting that although the on-going consultations between Armenia and official Moscow can be assessed positive, however, Armenia and EU should not cross the red lines.
