VIKTOR KHRISTENKO: ARMENIA’S ACCESSION TO CUSTOMS UNION MAY ACCELERATE KARABAKH PEACE PROCESS
by Arthur Yernjakyan
ARMINFO
Wednesday, November 6, 18:22
Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union may accelerate the Karabakh
peace process, Viktor Khristenko, Chairman of the Eurasian Economic
Commission Board, said in Yerevan on Wednesday.
He said that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has a long history and
has nothing to do with the Eurasian integration. The settlement of
this problem has its own formats. However, the economic development
within the frames of Armenia’s integration into the Customs Union
may contribute to the resolution of the Karabakh conflict, he said.
On November 6 Viktor Khristenko and Armenian Prime Minister Tigran
Sargsyan signed a memorandum on promotion of cooperation between the
Eurasian Economic Commission and Armenia.
To note, on Sept 3 Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced
Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union and participate in
formation of the Eurasian economic union.
To recall, when replying to ArmInfo’s question during the Oct 21
meeting with the heads of the CIS news agencies, President of Belarus
Alexander Lukashenko did not rule out provision of a special status to
the so- called unrecognized or partially recognized state formations
within the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, which is
under formation. He stressed that the idea had not been discussed and
he was not ready to give any reply himself. “But this topic may be
considered”, said Lukashenko. He shared the opinion that the economies
of these unrecognized formations (Karabakh, Transnistria, Abkhazia,
South Ossetia) are fully integrated into the Customs Union countries’
economies, as well as into the economies of the countries that are
going to join the Customs Union (Armenia – editor’s note). He also
agreed that it would be wrong to pose economic obstacles in the way
of these formations, especially given the tragic moments in their
histories.