The European Union will go on deepening democratic processes in Armenia and give the "feeling guilty" Armenian authorities an attempt to prove adherence to the European values, Armenia's former foreign minister, member of the parliament from the Prosperous Armenia Party, Vartan Oskanian, said when delivering a lecture "The northern choice of Armenia and future relations with the European Union" at the Vilnius University, on 27 November.
As Oskanian's office reported, he said that the Armenian community should know, whether the decision of the Armenian authorities not to initial the Association Agreement was conditioned by ideology, or the authorities were stemming from the interests of security and economic development of the country. "I hope that was not a choice of values, as it may leave deep negative consequences for Armenia. I think that at present the EU should be more watchful and uncompromising when giving the Armenian authorities "feeling guilty" an attempt to prove that prom the point of view of the European values they go on developing democratic processes", - he said.
Oskanian emphasized that consequences of the decision for the region, adopted by the authorities, arouse concern. "They are likely to result in deepening of the dividing lines in our region, taking into consideration the fact that Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan have additional reasons to differ from each other. My concerns are, in particular, the Armenian-Georgian relations, where the only general conception - European integration, seems to vanish", - he said.
Oskanian added that the most optimal option to him would be if Armenia could initial the Association Agreement with the EU and at the same time use the treaty for free trade with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. "I would like Armenia to have a status of an observer in the European Union without damaging its strategic relations with Russia. As a former foreign minister, I can say that such a scenario was possible", - Oskanian concluded.