RUSSIA TREATS ARMENIA LIKE JEALOUS SPOUSE - OPINION
14:20 20.08.13
The Russian concerns over the Armenian authorities' simultaneous
efforts towards joining EU and the Eurasian Union are absolutely
unfounded, according to an Armenian politician.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, a secretary of the opposition
Heritage party, Styopa Safaryan, said the country's concerns and fears
over Armenia's EU integration processes is comparable to nothing more
than a vain jealousy scene between spouses.
Safaryan noted that ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius,
it is becoming more and more obvious that the discourse has developed
in Armenia over the recent years. "A certain tension is being observed
in the Armenian-Russian relations; the Russian Azerbaijani cooperation
[over the weapons' trading] is a kind of warning to the country,"
he said, pointing out to an increasing tension in the South Caucasus.
Safaryan considered it strange that the ruling circles never treated
the Eurasian Union deal as an obstacle to Armenia's EU integration.
"That's simultaneously a matter of 'both and' and 'either or'.
President Serzh Sargsyan first spoke of that on March 18. The Polish
president's statement saying that it is 'either or' came shortly
afterwards. The situation changed after Stefan Fule [European
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy ]
visited Armenia; the European Union tried its best to solve this
entangled string. Nonetheless the tension hasn't changed," he added.
Safaryan further stressed the need of more flexible policies, noting
that Armenia has considerably higher chances to join the Eurasian
rather than European Union. "But it is obvious that we have different
proposals. Armenia has a problem in terms of using all the tools
necessary for strengthening the statehood," said the politician.
Armenian News - Tert.am
14:20 20.08.13
The Russian concerns over the Armenian authorities' simultaneous
efforts towards joining EU and the Eurasian Union are absolutely
unfounded, according to an Armenian politician.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, a secretary of the opposition
Heritage party, Styopa Safaryan, said the country's concerns and fears
over Armenia's EU integration processes is comparable to nothing more
than a vain jealousy scene between spouses.
Safaryan noted that ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius,
it is becoming more and more obvious that the discourse has developed
in Armenia over the recent years. "A certain tension is being observed
in the Armenian-Russian relations; the Russian Azerbaijani cooperation
[over the weapons' trading] is a kind of warning to the country,"
he said, pointing out to an increasing tension in the South Caucasus.
Safaryan considered it strange that the ruling circles never treated
the Eurasian Union deal as an obstacle to Armenia's EU integration.
"That's simultaneously a matter of 'both and' and 'either or'.
President Serzh Sargsyan first spoke of that on March 18. The Polish
president's statement saying that it is 'either or' came shortly
afterwards. The situation changed after Stefan Fule [European
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy ]
visited Armenia; the European Union tried its best to solve this
entangled string. Nonetheless the tension hasn't changed," he added.
Safaryan further stressed the need of more flexible policies, noting
that Armenia has considerably higher chances to join the Eurasian
rather than European Union. "But it is obvious that we have different
proposals. Armenia has a problem in terms of using all the tools
necessary for strengthening the statehood," said the politician.
Armenian News - Tert.am