Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian reacted scathingly on Thursday to Russia’s and other ex-Soviet states’ recent calls for Armenia to decide whether to remain part of their Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) or continue seeking membership of the European Union.
Following two European summits hosted by the Armenian government in early May, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Yerevan should make such a choice “as soon as possible.” The leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan backed this stance during an EEU summit on May 29 boycotted by Pashinian.
In a joint statement with Putin, they called for an Armenian referendum on the issue. They also implicitly warned of a possible suspension of Armenia’s membership in the Russian-led bloc vital for the Armenian economy.
Pashinian rejected the call on June 1. He went farther on Thursday, questioning the EEU’s continued existence.
“I also have questions for our colleagues regarding the statement they made in my absence, and we need to understand what that means in practice,” he told a cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “In other words, we need to understand whether any country in the Eurasian Economic Union can make such decisions regarding any other country and just wake up one day and make such decisions? In my opinion, if the answer to this question is ‘yes,’ then the Eurasian Economic Union is declaring its self-dissolution, and we should draw conclusions from this.”
“Now the Eurasian Economic Union must say whether it exists or not,” he said.
Pashinian stressed earlier that Armenia cannot be kicked out of the EEU without its consent. His critics countered that even if Yerevan vetoes its exit, Russia will still be in a position to impose crippling economic sanctions on the South Caucasus country.
Citing sanitary grounds, Moscow effectively banned multimillion-dollar imports of Armenian agricultural products and beverages in the run-up to the country’s June 7 parliamentary elections. Putin warned of more economic measures against Yerevan on May 29.
As well as lambasting the EEU, Pashinian said that his government will continue to “work very closely and actively” with the bloc. He reiterated that he will attend a meeting of the prime ministers of EU member states expected in August.
Pashinian assured voters ahead of the elections that Russia will swiftly lift the sanctions if he wins another term in office. However, Moscow has shown no signs of easing the economic pressure on Yerevan since the official election results gave victory to the ruling party. Senior Russian officials have said that the vote was marred by numerous irregularities. Putin has still not congratulated Pashinian.
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