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CUSTOMS UNION DEBATE: Q & A LEAVES MORE QS FOR OPPOSITION MPS
SOCIETY | 11.09.13 | 14:43
Photolure
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenian law-makers are unhappy with the closed-door meeting with
foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, during which he introduced the
reasons behind the decision to join the Customs Union with Russia. MPs
say they are not satisfied with the minister's explanations.
Armenian National Congress faction secretary Nikol Pashinyan says the
minister did not give any definite answer to any of the questions,
nothing informative. Prosperous Armenia Party faction secretary Naira
Zohrabyan says nothing was said about what Armenia was going to gain
by trading one economic regime for another. Former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanyan stated it was just a "pro-forma meeting", failing
to offer any clarity of the motives of joining the Customs Union (CU).
Armenian Revolutionary Federation MP Armen Rustamyan, as opposed to
the others, gave details of the Q&A with the minister.
"My first question was where Karabakh is going to be in this process.
If Karabakh is going to be part of the CU and further that of the
Eurasian Union, I am all for it, and no Armenian can say: 'Why did we
give up Europe and have come here?' Keeping Karabakh is a crucial issue
for us, it is also the matter of our national security. If Karabakh
is involved in this process, if it is accepted, then I support this
decision. I know that there was going to be a definite condition set
in case of signing the Association Agreement with the EU, which is to
draw a border between Armenia and Karabakh, meaning there should be a
customs post. The answer voiced by Nalbandyan claiming that Karabakh
would not suffer from this, I hope, implies that such a customs post
won't be required if part of the CU. Then, that makes a difference,"
he says.
He also pointed out that both Armenia and Russia are members of the
World Trade Organization (WTO), but different countries have entered
WTO on different terms. Rustamyan says Armenia "made rather serious
commitments" when joining WTO and it is important to understand
whether it might be facing trouble with that organization.
"The third issue is that we are currently going for initialing the
Association Agreement. Clearly, association, at its fullest, means
harmonizing all spheres - from economic to political. Naturally, that
complete association won't be happening now, all things considered,
and we are talking about some partial association. Won't that new
partial association need reconsideration if in the future we become
members of the Eurasian Union as a political unit? I did not receive
a satisfactory answer to that question," he says.
In reference to the discontent with his reasoning Nalbandyan says if
somebody just wants to raise a question, but not listen to the answer,
then there is no answer:
"I have responded to all the questions raised. If someone did not
understand or thinks the answers were unsatisfactory or they disagree,
that's their personal opinion."
Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Description:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
From: Mihran Keheyian
Subject: Customs Union Debate: Q & A leaves more Qs for opposition MPs
Customs Union Debate: Q & A leaves more Qs for opposition MPs
SOCIETY | 11.09.13 | 14:43
Photolure
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenian law-makers are unhappy with the closed-door meeting with
foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, during which he introduced the
reasons behind the decision to join the Customs Union with Russia. MPs
say they are not satisfied with the minister?s explanations.
Armenian National Congress faction secretary Nikol Pashinyan says the
minister did not give any definite answer to any of the questions,
nothing informative. Prosperous Armenia Party faction secretary Naira
Zohrabyan says nothing was said about what Armenia was going to gain
by trading one economic regime for another. Former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanyan stated it was just a ?pro-forma meeting?, failing
to offer any clarity of the motives of joining the Customs Union (CU).
Armenian Revolutionary Federation MP Armen Rustamyan, as opposed to
the others, gave details of the Q&A with the minister.
?My first question was where Karabakh is going to be in this process.
If Karabakh is going to be part of the CU and further that of the
Eurasian Union, I am all for it, and no Armenian can say: ?Why did we
give up Europe and have come here?? Keeping Karabakh is a crucial
issue for us, it is also the matter of our national security. If
Karabakh is involved in this process, if it is accepted, then I
support this decision. I know that there was going to be a definite
condition set in case of signing the Association Agreement with the
EU, which is to draw a border between Armenia and Karabakh, meaning
there should be a customs post. The answer voiced by Nalbandyan
claiming that Karabakh would not suffer from this, I hope, implies
that such a customs post won?t be required if part of the CU. Then,
that makes a difference,? he says.
He also pointed out that both Armenia and Russia are members of the
World Trade Organization (WTO), but different countries have entered
WTO on different terms. Rustamyan says Armenia ?made rather serious
commitments? when joining WTO and it is important to understand
whether it might be facing trouble with that organization.
?The third issue is that we are currently going for initialing the
Association Agreement. Clearly, association, at its fullest, means
harmonizing all spheres ? from economic to political. Naturally, that
complete association won?t be happening now, all things considered,
and we are talking about some partial association. Won?t that new
partial association need reconsideration if in the future we become
members of the Eurasian Union as a political unit? I did not receive a
satisfactory answer to that question,? he says.
In reference to the discontent with his reasoning Nalbandyan says if
somebody just wants to raise a question, but not listen to the answer,
then there is no answer:
?I have responded to all the questions raised. If someone did not
understand or thinks the answers were unsatisfactory or they disagree,
that?s their personal opinion.?
From: Baghdasarian
SOCIETY | 11.09.13 | 14:43
Photolure
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenian law-makers are unhappy with the closed-door meeting with
foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, during which he introduced the
reasons behind the decision to join the Customs Union with Russia. MPs
say they are not satisfied with the minister's explanations.
Armenian National Congress faction secretary Nikol Pashinyan says the
minister did not give any definite answer to any of the questions,
nothing informative. Prosperous Armenia Party faction secretary Naira
Zohrabyan says nothing was said about what Armenia was going to gain
by trading one economic regime for another. Former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanyan stated it was just a "pro-forma meeting", failing
to offer any clarity of the motives of joining the Customs Union (CU).
Armenian Revolutionary Federation MP Armen Rustamyan, as opposed to
the others, gave details of the Q&A with the minister.
"My first question was where Karabakh is going to be in this process.
If Karabakh is going to be part of the CU and further that of the
Eurasian Union, I am all for it, and no Armenian can say: 'Why did we
give up Europe and have come here?' Keeping Karabakh is a crucial issue
for us, it is also the matter of our national security. If Karabakh
is involved in this process, if it is accepted, then I support this
decision. I know that there was going to be a definite condition set
in case of signing the Association Agreement with the EU, which is to
draw a border between Armenia and Karabakh, meaning there should be a
customs post. The answer voiced by Nalbandyan claiming that Karabakh
would not suffer from this, I hope, implies that such a customs post
won't be required if part of the CU. Then, that makes a difference,"
he says.
He also pointed out that both Armenia and Russia are members of the
World Trade Organization (WTO), but different countries have entered
WTO on different terms. Rustamyan says Armenia "made rather serious
commitments" when joining WTO and it is important to understand
whether it might be facing trouble with that organization.
"The third issue is that we are currently going for initialing the
Association Agreement. Clearly, association, at its fullest, means
harmonizing all spheres - from economic to political. Naturally, that
complete association won't be happening now, all things considered,
and we are talking about some partial association. Won't that new
partial association need reconsideration if in the future we become
members of the Eurasian Union as a political unit? I did not receive
a satisfactory answer to that question," he says.
In reference to the discontent with his reasoning Nalbandyan says if
somebody just wants to raise a question, but not listen to the answer,
then there is no answer:
"I have responded to all the questions raised. If someone did not
understand or thinks the answers were unsatisfactory or they disagree,
that's their personal opinion."
Content-Type: MESSAGE/RFC822; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-Description:
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
From: Mihran Keheyian
Subject: Customs Union Debate: Q & A leaves more Qs for opposition MPs
Customs Union Debate: Q & A leaves more Qs for opposition MPs
SOCIETY | 11.09.13 | 14:43
Photolure
By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenian law-makers are unhappy with the closed-door meeting with
foreign minister Edward Nalbandyan, during which he introduced the
reasons behind the decision to join the Customs Union with Russia. MPs
say they are not satisfied with the minister?s explanations.
Armenian National Congress faction secretary Nikol Pashinyan says the
minister did not give any definite answer to any of the questions,
nothing informative. Prosperous Armenia Party faction secretary Naira
Zohrabyan says nothing was said about what Armenia was going to gain
by trading one economic regime for another. Former foreign minister
Alexander Arzumanyan stated it was just a ?pro-forma meeting?, failing
to offer any clarity of the motives of joining the Customs Union (CU).
Armenian Revolutionary Federation MP Armen Rustamyan, as opposed to
the others, gave details of the Q&A with the minister.
?My first question was where Karabakh is going to be in this process.
If Karabakh is going to be part of the CU and further that of the
Eurasian Union, I am all for it, and no Armenian can say: ?Why did we
give up Europe and have come here?? Keeping Karabakh is a crucial
issue for us, it is also the matter of our national security. If
Karabakh is involved in this process, if it is accepted, then I
support this decision. I know that there was going to be a definite
condition set in case of signing the Association Agreement with the
EU, which is to draw a border between Armenia and Karabakh, meaning
there should be a customs post. The answer voiced by Nalbandyan
claiming that Karabakh would not suffer from this, I hope, implies
that such a customs post won?t be required if part of the CU. Then,
that makes a difference,? he says.
He also pointed out that both Armenia and Russia are members of the
World Trade Organization (WTO), but different countries have entered
WTO on different terms. Rustamyan says Armenia ?made rather serious
commitments? when joining WTO and it is important to understand
whether it might be facing trouble with that organization.
?The third issue is that we are currently going for initialing the
Association Agreement. Clearly, association, at its fullest, means
harmonizing all spheres ? from economic to political. Naturally, that
complete association won?t be happening now, all things considered,
and we are talking about some partial association. Won?t that new
partial association need reconsideration if in the future we become
members of the Eurasian Union as a political unit? I did not receive a
satisfactory answer to that question,? he says.
In reference to the discontent with his reasoning Nalbandyan says if
somebody just wants to raise a question, but not listen to the answer,
then there is no answer:
?I have responded to all the questions raised. If someone did not
understand or thinks the answers were unsatisfactory or they disagree,
that?s their personal opinion.?
From: Baghdasarian