ARMENIAN SUPPORT FOR ECONOMIC UNION WITH RUSSIA NEARLY UNIVERSAL: RUSSIAN DIPLOMAT
Speaking at a meeting of the Armenian National Congress, former
Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosyan noted that the country’s
accession to the Eurasian Economic Union is irreversible.
(c) RIA Novosti. Mkhitar Khachatryan 12:32 27/10/2014
Related News
EEU Offers Armenia Higher Level of Security Than EU: World Armenian
Congress Armenia Lacks Alternatives to Eurasian Economic Union
Membership: Researcher Armenia’s Accession to EEU Launches New Phase of
Eurasian Integration: President Armenia Joins Eurasian Economic Union
MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia’s entry into the Eurasian
Economic Union is supported by virtually every political group in the
country, Russian Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volinkin told journalists
on Saturday following a Friday meeting of a coalition of the country’s
liberal opposition parties.
“Listening to the speeches made by the opposition, one notes that
almost all of them are in favor of preserving Armenia’s status [as
a candidate for entry into] the Eurasian Economic Union. Apart from
maybe one group, no one is against it.”
At a meeting of the Armenian National Congress (ANC), a coalition of
13 classical liberal opposition parties on Friday, coalition leader
and former Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosyan noted that Armenia’s
accession to the EEU is irreversible, and that any opposition to it
is not only too late, but also dangerous, pointing to the example
of Ukraine.
Ter-Petrosyan, the country’s first president, served between 1991 and
1998. He noted that even the West has been sympathetic to Armenia’s
choice, and that a small group of people was unjustifiably trying to
provoke anti-Russian sentiment in the country. Only the leader of the
“Heritage” party Raffi Hovannisian has stepped out against Armenian
accession to the EEU. Heritage controls just four of the 131 seats
in Armenia’s unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, which
is dominated by the center-right Republican Party (70 seats) and the
economically liberal, socially conservative
Prosperous Armenia party (36 seats). The Armenian National Congress
holds seven seats in the legislature.
Commenting on Ter-Petrosyan’s speech, Volinkin noted that “Armenia’s
membership in the EEU is the correct strategic decision, but by no
means does it mean that the country will close the door on cooperation
with other countries.”
Armenia had been set to sign an Association Agreement with the
European Union in November 2013 in Vilnius, but instead declared its
intention to join the Customs Union, and to participate in the Eurasian
integration project that currently includes Russia, Kazakhstan and
Belarus. The three countries have ratified the EEU treaty, which will
come into force January 2015. Armenia signed on at the beginning of
October, with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan also expressing interest in
joining the organization.