DENNIS SAMMUT: THE DECISION, WHICH HAS BEEN TAKEN WITH VERY LITTLE PUBLIC CONSULTATION, WILL NO DOUBT STIR A DEBATE
by Emmanuil Lazarian

arminfo
Wednesday, September 4, 18:42

There is nothing astonishing about the decision of the Armenian
President to opt to join the Russian led Customs Union and the Eurasian
Economic Union, Commonspace.eu political editor, Director of LINKS
Dennis Sammut said on Commonspace.eu.

“In fact this is what many had been expecting all along. This
is a decision for the Armenian government to make and it is up
to the Armenian people, not others, to question it. What is quite
astonishing however is that Armenia had for several years been pursuing
a completely different course by engaging in negotiations to sign an
Association Agreement with EU and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade
Agreement, and had indicated until a few days ago that this what it
was going to do. How this all of a sudden stopped being rational is
perplexing,” Sammut said.

He believes that nobody in Brussels or anywhere else in the European
Union lost any sleep last night because of Sargsyan’s decision. “In
fact a more closely associated Armenia would have necessitated
considerable economic and financial commitment on the part of the EU
which will now not be necessary. One would assume that next time Mr.

Putin goes to Yerevan he will bring his chequebook with him. But
internationally there will be questions about how Armenia goes about
doing international relations, and domestically the decision, which
has been taken with very little public consultation, will no doubt
stir a debate,” Sammut said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress