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THE TWO EUS RACE TO THE FINISH IN THE CAUCASUS
EurasiaNet.org
April 17 2014
April 17, 2014 - 10:33am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia may now sign on to the Moscow-led Eurasian Union by the end
of April, roughly a month before neighboring Georgia is slated to
enter a free-trade and political pact with the European Union. The
signings of both agreements have been expedited as the competition
for the South Caucasus picks up speed between Russia and Europe.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is scheduled to travel to Belarus
on April 29 for a meeting of the council of the Eurasian Union,
an economic bloc roughly modeled by Moscow after (and against)
the European Union. Armenian officials say that Sargsyan will sign
an agreement in Minsk on Armenia's joining the Customs Union, the
flagship project of the Eurasian Union meant to create a shared
economic space for Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and, Moscow hopes,
more ex-Soviet states.
The new sign-on date is not a huge difference from the earlier deadline
of May, but, apparently, as East-West ties deteriorate over Ukraine,
someone feels the need to pick up the pace.
Wary of Ukraine-style pressure from Russia, the EU chiefs have been
trying to fast-forward their plans with Georgia and Moldova. Jose
Manuel Borroso, the president of the European Commission, the executive
body of the EU, is expected in Tbilisi in June to sign an association
agreement, which includes a free trade deal, with Georgia.
Armenia chose the Eurasian Union over a closer association with the
European Union, but Georgia has refused to have anything to do with
this second "EU," which it sees as a plot to bring the Soviet Union
back into business.
Their respective EU choices -- European or Eurasian -- are likely
to place Georgia and Armenia in an awkward place, though. Accession
to competing economic projects is likely to complicate trade between
the neighbors.
Armenia will have to take on the shared export and import tariffs of
the Custom Union, though Yerevan is negotiating exemptions.
Free trade with the EU does not impose new trade duties on Georgia,
but the country will need to comply with the EU's production-safety
regulations, which are expected to result in higher prices on
Georgian goods.
The third South-Caucasus country, Azerbaijan, has opted to stay out
of this EU rivalry. Unlike its natural resources-poor neighbors,
Azerbaijan does not feel the need to align itself with any club to
improve its economy. Oil and gas sales already are doing the trick.
From: Baghdasarian
EurasiaNet.org
April 17 2014
April 17, 2014 - 10:33am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia may now sign on to the Moscow-led Eurasian Union by the end
of April, roughly a month before neighboring Georgia is slated to
enter a free-trade and political pact with the European Union. The
signings of both agreements have been expedited as the competition
for the South Caucasus picks up speed between Russia and Europe.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan is scheduled to travel to Belarus
on April 29 for a meeting of the council of the Eurasian Union,
an economic bloc roughly modeled by Moscow after (and against)
the European Union. Armenian officials say that Sargsyan will sign
an agreement in Minsk on Armenia's joining the Customs Union, the
flagship project of the Eurasian Union meant to create a shared
economic space for Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and, Moscow hopes,
more ex-Soviet states.
The new sign-on date is not a huge difference from the earlier deadline
of May, but, apparently, as East-West ties deteriorate over Ukraine,
someone feels the need to pick up the pace.
Wary of Ukraine-style pressure from Russia, the EU chiefs have been
trying to fast-forward their plans with Georgia and Moldova. Jose
Manuel Borroso, the president of the European Commission, the executive
body of the EU, is expected in Tbilisi in June to sign an association
agreement, which includes a free trade deal, with Georgia.
Armenia chose the Eurasian Union over a closer association with the
European Union, but Georgia has refused to have anything to do with
this second "EU," which it sees as a plot to bring the Soviet Union
back into business.
Their respective EU choices -- European or Eurasian -- are likely
to place Georgia and Armenia in an awkward place, though. Accession
to competing economic projects is likely to complicate trade between
the neighbors.
Armenia will have to take on the shared export and import tariffs of
the Custom Union, though Yerevan is negotiating exemptions.
Free trade with the EU does not impose new trade duties on Georgia,
but the country will need to comply with the EU's production-safety
regulations, which are expected to result in higher prices on
Georgian goods.
The third South-Caucasus country, Azerbaijan, has opted to stay out
of this EU rivalry. Unlike its natural resources-poor neighbors,
Azerbaijan does not feel the need to align itself with any club to
improve its economy. Oil and gas sales already are doing the trick.
From: Baghdasarian