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ARMENIA ON EURASIAN UNION: BETTER THE "RUSSIAN YOKE" YOU KNOW
EurasiaNet.org
Dec 5 2014
December 5, 2014 - 9:15am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia has sealed its Russia-deal, cinching its choice of the
Russian-led EU over the EU proper, but is not entirely happy about it.
By a 103-7 vote, the National Assembly on December 4 endorsed Armenia's
long-expected accession to the Eurasian Union, but even some of the
lawmakers who pressed the yes-button think that it was Armenia's
unfortunate fate that brought the Caucasus country to this junction.
"It is better to be under the Russian yoke," reasoned MP Mher Sadrakian
of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, echoing other lawmakers'
views that alliance with Russia is a necessary evil. "Our people
always have been under a foreign yoke," Sadrakian went on saying,
RFE/RL reported. "We are used to someone standing above us...
the Persians, the Turks, the Russians... "
Without Russia, Armenia would not have "conquered" predominantly
ethnic-Armenian Nagorno Karabakh, claimed by Azerbaijan, he continued.
"Without them [the Russians], they will devour us," Sadrakian said
in reference to Azerbaijan and its longtime ally, Turkey.
Another Republican, Seryan Saroian, offered more transcendental
reasoning, though getting somewhat confused in the process.
"Why are you lamenting us joining the European Union... the
Euronews... I don't know, Eurasia...Let's say you eat two more kilos
of sausage, will it change anything?" Saroian was quoted by RFE/RL's
Armenian service as saying.
Arguing that the deal undercut Armenian sovereignty, protesters had
made their presence known outside parliament, but not imposing enough
to sway the vote. The country's two largest opposition forces, the
Prosperous Armenia Party and the Armenian National Congress, earlier
had stated that they would not try to derail the Eurasian-Union plans.
The Armenian government says that accession to the Union will ease
access to the Russian market, the main outlet for Armenian goods.
Many observers agree that membership in the Eurasian Union makes
economic sense for Armenia, but they also see potential issues. The
weakening of the Russian economy, now under siege by Western sanctions
over Ukraine, will ripple through Armenia, one observer Karen Kocharian
told Kavkazsky Uzel website. That threat, though, would exist whether
or not Armenia signed on with Russia's Eurasian Union, he noted.
Other observers spoke of potential pitfalls associated with what could
happen when the South Caucasus becomes a bit of a game of Twister,
with countries' economic interests going across and around each other.
Neighboring Georgia is going full-speed toward integration with the
European Union, while Azerbaijan remains an economic and political
maverick.
For now, though, Armenia reckons it can contort itself sufficiently
to stay up.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71216
EurasiaNet.org
Dec 5 2014
December 5, 2014 - 9:15am, by Giorgi Lomsadze
Armenia has sealed its Russia-deal, cinching its choice of the
Russian-led EU over the EU proper, but is not entirely happy about it.
By a 103-7 vote, the National Assembly on December 4 endorsed Armenia's
long-expected accession to the Eurasian Union, but even some of the
lawmakers who pressed the yes-button think that it was Armenia's
unfortunate fate that brought the Caucasus country to this junction.
"It is better to be under the Russian yoke," reasoned MP Mher Sadrakian
of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, echoing other lawmakers'
views that alliance with Russia is a necessary evil. "Our people
always have been under a foreign yoke," Sadrakian went on saying,
RFE/RL reported. "We are used to someone standing above us...
the Persians, the Turks, the Russians... "
Without Russia, Armenia would not have "conquered" predominantly
ethnic-Armenian Nagorno Karabakh, claimed by Azerbaijan, he continued.
"Without them [the Russians], they will devour us," Sadrakian said
in reference to Azerbaijan and its longtime ally, Turkey.
Another Republican, Seryan Saroian, offered more transcendental
reasoning, though getting somewhat confused in the process.
"Why are you lamenting us joining the European Union... the
Euronews... I don't know, Eurasia...Let's say you eat two more kilos
of sausage, will it change anything?" Saroian was quoted by RFE/RL's
Armenian service as saying.
Arguing that the deal undercut Armenian sovereignty, protesters had
made their presence known outside parliament, but not imposing enough
to sway the vote. The country's two largest opposition forces, the
Prosperous Armenia Party and the Armenian National Congress, earlier
had stated that they would not try to derail the Eurasian-Union plans.
The Armenian government says that accession to the Union will ease
access to the Russian market, the main outlet for Armenian goods.
Many observers agree that membership in the Eurasian Union makes
economic sense for Armenia, but they also see potential issues. The
weakening of the Russian economy, now under siege by Western sanctions
over Ukraine, will ripple through Armenia, one observer Karen Kocharian
told Kavkazsky Uzel website. That threat, though, would exist whether
or not Armenia signed on with Russia's Eurasian Union, he noted.
Other observers spoke of potential pitfalls associated with what could
happen when the South Caucasus becomes a bit of a game of Twister,
with countries' economic interests going across and around each other.
Neighboring Georgia is going full-speed toward integration with the
European Union, while Azerbaijan remains an economic and political
maverick.
For now, though, Armenia reckons it can contort itself sufficiently
to stay up.
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71216