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YEREVAN IN THE GRIP OF GEOPOLITICAL POLES (THE FIRST ROUND OF THE FIGHT)
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 17 2013
17 September 2013 - 12:35pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Serge Sargsyan's statement on Armenia's intention to join the Customs
Union (CU) didn't halt the geopolitical process over Armenia.
Discussions on the course of development continue there.
According to the head of the Institute of the Caucasus, Alexander
Iskandaryan, Armenia cannot really join the Customs Union and the
absence of borders is not the main problem: "The CU was established
for Kazakhstan and Russia, and their interests and demands contradict
Armenia's needs. For example, Kazakhstan and Russia produce and export
energy products; Armenia imports them. Moreover, the countries of the
CU and Armenia not only have no common borders, but also between us
there is Georgia, which is a very specific country for Russia.
Furthermore, these are thousands of pages of texts which have been
developing for years. All these norms cannot be simply applied to
Armenia."
The question of the possibility of combining membership of Armenia
in the CU and initialling of the association agreement within the EU
program of the Eastern Partnership is in the focus of attention. The
European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood
Policy, Stefan Fule, has already stated that in the context of
Armenia's statement on joining the CU, it is difficult to imagine the
association agreement with the EU being initialled on November 29th
in Vilnius. According to him, there is a problem of compatibility
between obligations to the CU and the free trade area with the
EU. "For example, you cannot simultaneously reduce customs rates, as is
required by the Agreement on a deep and comprehensive free trade area,
and increase them as a lresult of membership in the Customs Union,"
Fule thinks. The possibility of the other document - the Association
Agreement - being initialled by Armenia is also excluded.
However, considering the fact that the geopolitical competition
between Russia and the West for the post-Soviet space won't stop
due to the decision of Yerevan to join the CU, and Armenia wasn't
included in the program of "Eastern Partnership" accidentally,
it could be predicted that the Europeans will try to find another
option for settlement of the problem that has occurred. For example,
in the future a new document for Armenia can be developed.
A small country with numerous problems in the economic sphere,
constant migration, having a conflict with Azerbaijan and difficult
relations with Turkey is involved in an argument between two leading
centers of political force - Russia and the West. In the first round
of the fight Moscow won, which has such trump cards as providing the
security of Armenia, exporting gas to Armenia and the presence of a
million Armenian migrants in Russia. The EU, and the West in general,
has never been interested in the security problems of Armenia.
To be continued.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/economy/45194.html
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Sept 17 2013
17 September 2013 - 12:35pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
Serge Sargsyan's statement on Armenia's intention to join the Customs
Union (CU) didn't halt the geopolitical process over Armenia.
Discussions on the course of development continue there.
According to the head of the Institute of the Caucasus, Alexander
Iskandaryan, Armenia cannot really join the Customs Union and the
absence of borders is not the main problem: "The CU was established
for Kazakhstan and Russia, and their interests and demands contradict
Armenia's needs. For example, Kazakhstan and Russia produce and export
energy products; Armenia imports them. Moreover, the countries of the
CU and Armenia not only have no common borders, but also between us
there is Georgia, which is a very specific country for Russia.
Furthermore, these are thousands of pages of texts which have been
developing for years. All these norms cannot be simply applied to
Armenia."
The question of the possibility of combining membership of Armenia
in the CU and initialling of the association agreement within the EU
program of the Eastern Partnership is in the focus of attention. The
European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood
Policy, Stefan Fule, has already stated that in the context of
Armenia's statement on joining the CU, it is difficult to imagine the
association agreement with the EU being initialled on November 29th
in Vilnius. According to him, there is a problem of compatibility
between obligations to the CU and the free trade area with the
EU. "For example, you cannot simultaneously reduce customs rates, as is
required by the Agreement on a deep and comprehensive free trade area,
and increase them as a lresult of membership in the Customs Union,"
Fule thinks. The possibility of the other document - the Association
Agreement - being initialled by Armenia is also excluded.
However, considering the fact that the geopolitical competition
between Russia and the West for the post-Soviet space won't stop
due to the decision of Yerevan to join the CU, and Armenia wasn't
included in the program of "Eastern Partnership" accidentally,
it could be predicted that the Europeans will try to find another
option for settlement of the problem that has occurred. For example,
in the future a new document for Armenia can be developed.
A small country with numerous problems in the economic sphere,
constant migration, having a conflict with Azerbaijan and difficult
relations with Turkey is involved in an argument between two leading
centers of political force - Russia and the West. In the first round
of the fight Moscow won, which has such trump cards as providing the
security of Armenia, exporting gas to Armenia and the presence of a
million Armenian migrants in Russia. The EU, and the West in general,
has never been interested in the security problems of Armenia.
To be continued.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/economy/45194.html