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ARMENIA-EU: OFFICIALS SAY NO TALKS ON NEW AGREEMENT UNDERWAY AHEAD OF RIGA SUMMIT
ANALYSIS | 06.03.15 | 10:35
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
The Eastern Partnership summit will take place in Riga, Latvia, in May,
but Armenia has not yet restarted its negotiations with the European
Union with a view to concluding a new agreement.
The EU itself has not yet decided how it should approach the problems
of the Eastern Partnership Program participants.
Armenia's First Deputy Minister of Economy Garegin Melkonyan stressed
that only "specialized discussions" are being conducted with the EU.
"No negotiating process is now being conducted with the European Union,
the matter only concerns specialized discussions. These are discussions
about the direction, the scope of areas of further cooperation and
the formation of common points of view," said the deputy minister.
Meanwhile, on March 5, the EU held consultations on the crisis in
Ukraine, during which the need "to ensure greater coherence between
the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and the EU's relations with
Russia and partners in Central Asia" was stressed. The European
Commission said that the new edition of the ENP will be ready by fall.
Meanwhile, many experts blame the Brussels authorities for not taking
into account the possible reaction of Russia to expanding EU influence
when it began promoting the integration of "Eastern partners" -
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine.
Russian politicians and experts recently began to say that the EU
may agree to discuss issues connected with the European association
of former Soviet republics with Russia. Until now, the EU leaders
rejected this possibility, considering that Russia does not have the
right to interfere in the affairs of sovereign post-Soviet countries
and the EU. But Moscow has consistently promoted the idea of creating
a large alliance between the EU and the Eurasian Union. The EU has
not recognized the Eurasian Union yet.
Armenia, which was to have signed an association agreement with the EU
in November 2013, about two months before announced its intention to
join the Russian-led Eurasian Union. Since then, negotiations within
the framework of the Eastern Partnership Program have not resumed. In
Ukraine, this process resulted in a large-scale war, and Armenian
experts say that if Yerevan had signed the EU Association Agreement
the country would have inevitably been plunged into war, too.
At the same time, after joining the Eurasian Economic Union from
January 2, 2015, Armenia more and more often has to turn to Europe
and the United States for assistance, because the economic situation
in Armenia is close to critical. The Fitch agency said that Ukraine
and Armenia experienced the greatest knock-on effects of the Western
sanctions imposed against Russia. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Eric Rubin stated that his country would help Armenia overcome the
effects of the sanctions imposed on Russia. Europe has not yet declared
about a similar approach.
However, as Armenia's Minister of Economy Karen Chshmaritian said,
Armenia is trying to diversify its exports and direct them towards
Europe and the Arab countries. Statistical data on exports in January
show that at least on paper the amount of goods exported by Armenia
to Russia during the period in question decreased by 99.9 percent,
while exports to European and Arab countries grew significantly.
http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/61199/armenia_european_union_program_riga_summit
ANALYSIS | 06.03.15 | 10:35
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
The Eastern Partnership summit will take place in Riga, Latvia, in May,
but Armenia has not yet restarted its negotiations with the European
Union with a view to concluding a new agreement.
The EU itself has not yet decided how it should approach the problems
of the Eastern Partnership Program participants.
Armenia's First Deputy Minister of Economy Garegin Melkonyan stressed
that only "specialized discussions" are being conducted with the EU.
"No negotiating process is now being conducted with the European Union,
the matter only concerns specialized discussions. These are discussions
about the direction, the scope of areas of further cooperation and
the formation of common points of view," said the deputy minister.
Meanwhile, on March 5, the EU held consultations on the crisis in
Ukraine, during which the need "to ensure greater coherence between
the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) and the EU's relations with
Russia and partners in Central Asia" was stressed. The European
Commission said that the new edition of the ENP will be ready by fall.
Meanwhile, many experts blame the Brussels authorities for not taking
into account the possible reaction of Russia to expanding EU influence
when it began promoting the integration of "Eastern partners" -
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine.
Russian politicians and experts recently began to say that the EU
may agree to discuss issues connected with the European association
of former Soviet republics with Russia. Until now, the EU leaders
rejected this possibility, considering that Russia does not have the
right to interfere in the affairs of sovereign post-Soviet countries
and the EU. But Moscow has consistently promoted the idea of creating
a large alliance between the EU and the Eurasian Union. The EU has
not recognized the Eurasian Union yet.
Armenia, which was to have signed an association agreement with the EU
in November 2013, about two months before announced its intention to
join the Russian-led Eurasian Union. Since then, negotiations within
the framework of the Eastern Partnership Program have not resumed. In
Ukraine, this process resulted in a large-scale war, and Armenian
experts say that if Yerevan had signed the EU Association Agreement
the country would have inevitably been plunged into war, too.
At the same time, after joining the Eurasian Economic Union from
January 2, 2015, Armenia more and more often has to turn to Europe
and the United States for assistance, because the economic situation
in Armenia is close to critical. The Fitch agency said that Ukraine
and Armenia experienced the greatest knock-on effects of the Western
sanctions imposed against Russia. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
Eric Rubin stated that his country would help Armenia overcome the
effects of the sanctions imposed on Russia. Europe has not yet declared
about a similar approach.
However, as Armenia's Minister of Economy Karen Chshmaritian said,
Armenia is trying to diversify its exports and direct them towards
Europe and the Arab countries. Statistical data on exports in January
show that at least on paper the amount of goods exported by Armenia
to Russia during the period in question decreased by 99.9 percent,
while exports to European and Arab countries grew significantly.
http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/61199/armenia_european_union_program_riga_summit