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ARMENIA: CUSTOMS UNION COMMITMENT RISKS EU COOPERATION CHANCES
EurasiaNet,.org
Sept 10 2013
September 10, 2013 - 11:59am, by Marianna Grigoryan
President Serzh Sargsyan's early September announcement that Armenia
is ready to join the Moscow-led Customs Union is stirring uneasiness
in Yerevan. Some analysts contend the move would do more to bolster the
incumbent government's authority than benefit the country as a whole.
Sargsyan dropped the Customs Union bombshell announcement on September
3 during a visit to Moscow. On September 10, he held talks in Astana
with Kazakhstani officials on technical aspects of the Customs Union
accession process, Armenian news outlets reported.
"I confirmed Armenia's decision to join the Customs Union and
participate in the processes of formation of the Eurasian economic
union," Sargsyan said in his September 3 statement, relating to his
Moscow visit. "It's a rational decision and it is in the interests
of Armenia.
That statement generated an immediate backlash at home: several hundred
people gathered outside the presidential residence on September 4
to protest the possibility, chanting slogans including "No return to
the Soviet Union," and "Russia, Go Away."
"Did Serzh Sargsyan ask my opinion [on this]? Did he ask whether I
or other people agree to this, did he ask about the decision of the
Armenian citizens?" one protester told EurasiaNet.org. "Such issues
must be settled through a referendum and debates; the decision should
not be taken unilaterally."
A close Sargsyan ally, on the other hand, disputed the notion that
such a weighty issue as Customs Union membership -- an action that
would greatly complicate Armenia's ability to foster closer relations
with the European Union, and thus likely cement Armenia's geopolitical
orientation toward Russia -- required public debate.
"Serzh Sargsyan did not need to ask anybody about this issue,"
Galust Sahakian, the deputy chair of the parliamentary faction of
the governing Republican Party of Armenia.
Some observers in Yerevan believe that Moscow coerced Sargsyan
into making a commitment to the Customs Union. "Serzh Sargsyan's
West-oriented policy made Russia nervous; the Russians pressed and
blackmailed him, forcing to make an opposite decision," independent
political analyst Yervand Bozoyan told EurasiaNet.org.
The Armenian president has repeatedly denied doing the Kremlin's
bidding. At a news conference back in March, for example, Sargsyan
declared: "Do not believe those who claim that the Russians are
imposing membership in the Customs Union on us. This is not true. How
many times should I repeat this?"
Sargsyan in his September 3 statement insisted that Customs Union
membership would not necessarily "preclude our dialogue with the
European structures." He also claimed that his administration was
"determined" to press ahead with economic reforms.
EU representatives wasted little time in bursting Sargsyan's bubble
world, stating bluntly that Customs Union membership and close
cooperation with the EU were generally incompatible. In an interview
with the RFE/RL Armenian Service on September 6, Peter Stano, the
spokesperson for Stefan Fuele, the European Union Commissioner for
Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, stated that the EU would
not initial either an Association Agreement or an Agreement on Deep
and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with Armenia, if Yerevan's Customs
Union plans proceeded.
Various political analysts, meanwhile, have cast doubts on Sargsyan's
reform dedication. Richard Giragosian, a political scientist
and director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan, described
Sargsyan's Customs Union policy as perhaps the gravest geopolitical
error in Armenia's post-Soviet history, and, if implemented, one that
would have lasting consequences for Armenia.
"This recent decision demonstrated that Armenia has made a strategic
blunder and has lost another opportunity," Richard Giragosian tells
Eurasianet. "This poses a very serious threat to our future. This is
not only a loss for Europe; this is a far greater loss for Armenia.
The price required for this wrong decision will be paid by the
population, and it only strengthens the oligarchic system in the
country."
Giragosian also predicted that Customs Union membership would cause
a massive drop in public confidence in the government's ability to
foster a better life for the majority of Armenians at home, and thus
spur a new and vast wave of emigration.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67385
Raffi Hovannisian, the leader of the opposition Heritage Party,
and the man who led a fleetingly successful protest movement
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66805 following his disputed defeat in
the presidential election earlier this year, asserted that Sargsyan
was putting personal political considerations ahead of the country's
best interests.
"Serzh Sargsyan who assumed the status of a self-willed governor
should resign. All possible resources of patience and a worthy life
for the country and its people are exhausted," Hovannisian said.
"Sargsyan should resign for the sake of Armenia and our future,
our independence, justice and national security."
Though concern about Armenia's prospects in the Kremlin's economic
embrace is fueling worries in many political circles, Sargyan does have
an ample cohort of defenders. Political analyst Alexander Margarov,
for one, suggested that fears that Armenia would be cut off from
the EU were overblown. He added that a major factor that persuaded
Sargsyan to opt for the Customs Union was a Russian guarantee to
ensure the security of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Editor's note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67482
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
EurasiaNet,.org
Sept 10 2013
September 10, 2013 - 11:59am, by Marianna Grigoryan
President Serzh Sargsyan's early September announcement that Armenia
is ready to join the Moscow-led Customs Union is stirring uneasiness
in Yerevan. Some analysts contend the move would do more to bolster the
incumbent government's authority than benefit the country as a whole.
Sargsyan dropped the Customs Union bombshell announcement on September
3 during a visit to Moscow. On September 10, he held talks in Astana
with Kazakhstani officials on technical aspects of the Customs Union
accession process, Armenian news outlets reported.
"I confirmed Armenia's decision to join the Customs Union and
participate in the processes of formation of the Eurasian economic
union," Sargsyan said in his September 3 statement, relating to his
Moscow visit. "It's a rational decision and it is in the interests
of Armenia.
That statement generated an immediate backlash at home: several hundred
people gathered outside the presidential residence on September 4
to protest the possibility, chanting slogans including "No return to
the Soviet Union," and "Russia, Go Away."
"Did Serzh Sargsyan ask my opinion [on this]? Did he ask whether I
or other people agree to this, did he ask about the decision of the
Armenian citizens?" one protester told EurasiaNet.org. "Such issues
must be settled through a referendum and debates; the decision should
not be taken unilaterally."
A close Sargsyan ally, on the other hand, disputed the notion that
such a weighty issue as Customs Union membership -- an action that
would greatly complicate Armenia's ability to foster closer relations
with the European Union, and thus likely cement Armenia's geopolitical
orientation toward Russia -- required public debate.
"Serzh Sargsyan did not need to ask anybody about this issue,"
Galust Sahakian, the deputy chair of the parliamentary faction of
the governing Republican Party of Armenia.
Some observers in Yerevan believe that Moscow coerced Sargsyan
into making a commitment to the Customs Union. "Serzh Sargsyan's
West-oriented policy made Russia nervous; the Russians pressed and
blackmailed him, forcing to make an opposite decision," independent
political analyst Yervand Bozoyan told EurasiaNet.org.
The Armenian president has repeatedly denied doing the Kremlin's
bidding. At a news conference back in March, for example, Sargsyan
declared: "Do not believe those who claim that the Russians are
imposing membership in the Customs Union on us. This is not true. How
many times should I repeat this?"
Sargsyan in his September 3 statement insisted that Customs Union
membership would not necessarily "preclude our dialogue with the
European structures." He also claimed that his administration was
"determined" to press ahead with economic reforms.
EU representatives wasted little time in bursting Sargsyan's bubble
world, stating bluntly that Customs Union membership and close
cooperation with the EU were generally incompatible. In an interview
with the RFE/RL Armenian Service on September 6, Peter Stano, the
spokesperson for Stefan Fuele, the European Union Commissioner for
Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, stated that the EU would
not initial either an Association Agreement or an Agreement on Deep
and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with Armenia, if Yerevan's Customs
Union plans proceeded.
Various political analysts, meanwhile, have cast doubts on Sargsyan's
reform dedication. Richard Giragosian, a political scientist
and director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan, described
Sargsyan's Customs Union policy as perhaps the gravest geopolitical
error in Armenia's post-Soviet history, and, if implemented, one that
would have lasting consequences for Armenia.
"This recent decision demonstrated that Armenia has made a strategic
blunder and has lost another opportunity," Richard Giragosian tells
Eurasianet. "This poses a very serious threat to our future. This is
not only a loss for Europe; this is a far greater loss for Armenia.
The price required for this wrong decision will be paid by the
population, and it only strengthens the oligarchic system in the
country."
Giragosian also predicted that Customs Union membership would cause
a massive drop in public confidence in the government's ability to
foster a better life for the majority of Armenians at home, and thus
spur a new and vast wave of emigration.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67385
Raffi Hovannisian, the leader of the opposition Heritage Party,
and the man who led a fleetingly successful protest movement
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66805 following his disputed defeat in
the presidential election earlier this year, asserted that Sargsyan
was putting personal political considerations ahead of the country's
best interests.
"Serzh Sargsyan who assumed the status of a self-willed governor
should resign. All possible resources of patience and a worthy life
for the country and its people are exhausted," Hovannisian said.
"Sargsyan should resign for the sake of Armenia and our future,
our independence, justice and national security."
Though concern about Armenia's prospects in the Kremlin's economic
embrace is fueling worries in many political circles, Sargyan does have
an ample cohort of defenders. Political analyst Alexander Margarov,
for one, suggested that fears that Armenia would be cut off from
the EU were overblown. He added that a major factor that persuaded
Sargsyan to opt for the Customs Union was a Russian guarantee to
ensure the security of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Editor's note: Marianna Grigoryan is a freelance reporter based in
Yerevan and editor of MediaLab.am.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67482
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress