CUSTOMS UNION MEMBERSHIP A MANIFESTATION OF ARMENIA’S FLEXIBLE POLICY
17:25 01.10.2013
Karen Ghazaryan
Public Radio of Armenia
Membership in the Customs Union will give Armenia a chance to speak
to the European Union on a different level. The decision was well
thought-out, Director of the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation
(US), famous Russian-Armenian political scientist Andranik Mihranyan
said during a meeting at the Armenian State Pedagogical University.
According to him, it’s necessary to be in the right time with the
right structures. “The Armenian diplomacy is behaving flexibly today,
and the membership in the Customs Union in no way diverts us from
the path of European integration,” Mihranyan said. According to him,
Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union makes Armenia a stronger
negotiator with Europe and other countries.
It’s clear that Armenia is situated in a region, where it’s impossible
to be in different security and economic systems, the political
scientist said. He considers that it’s first of all necessary to
understand where your interests are. “In this respect, Armenia is
tightly connected with Russia. Besides, there have been promises from
Europe which have never been realized,” he said.
Europe has come to understand that the principle of “either…, or”
will not work and now they declare they’re ready to continue the
development of cooperation with Armenia, Mihranyan added.
The political scientist added that “if Armenia speaks to Europe, it
does not mean it does or should oppose Russia, especially considering
that Russia has nothing against European values, moreover – Russia
is Europe itself.”