ARMENIA IS NO LONGER A FRONT POST BUT AN EXCLAVE
16:49 19/12/2012
Story from Lragir.am News:
The chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission Viktor
Khristenko who has recently been to Armenia stated in Moscow that
Armenia will sign the agreement on the Eurasian Customs Union at the
beginning of the next year.
In regard to the absence of a common border between Armenia and the
Customs Union states, Khristenko said:
“Many think it is an impassable obstacle. But I don’t think so. See,
for example, the exclave region of Kaliningrad in Russia. And
the Customs Union may also have its exclave. Sure, Armenia has
considerable infrastructure limitations, it has one transportation
corridor connecting it with the Customs Union which runs across
Georgia. But the strategic interest of Armenia is articulated, and it
leads to the fact that it is a Eurasian country. We need to consider
all the interesting formats. In general the world changes and new
partnership models may appear in our arsenal.”
“What do you mean?” asked a journalist.
“I’m just giving a hint. We’ll see,”answered Khristenko laughing.
“Do you mean other countries, non former soviet states, may be invited
to the Customs’ Union?”
Khristenko: “It’s wrong to say “invite”. We are organizing a banquet
to invite everyone who wants to be there. We need to solve all the
problems. Our future will depend on how we will be able to integrate
our three countries, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as the
wish of other countries which would like to join us.”
It’s worth mentioning, after Putin’s visit to Ankara, Medvedev’s
spokesman noted that Russia would not mind Turkey’s participation in
the Customs Union.