Monday, August 12 2013

Armenia is working towards an Association Agreement with the EU, and last month almost concluded negotiations toward a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). These will be initialed in Vilnius later this year, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in an interview with Commonspace.eu.

"This a sign that Armenia has opted for a close relationship with the EU as apposed to Russia. Of course, Russia wants to make the Customs Union as large as possible, and it is important for them that Ukraine and Armenia at least declare that they want to be a part of it. The problem is that membership of the

Customs Union is an obstacle to signing the DCFTA with the EU.
This is not a step in the membership process. There is no question of Armenia joining the EU, and people acknowledge that signing the association agreement or DCFTA is not necessarily a step towards becoming a member. This doesn't show that Armenian foreign policy is leaning more towards the EU or to Russia, it just shows Armenia sees more than one area of opportunity for economic development," Kocharyan said.  Nevertheless, he said, Russia is our military security choice, while the DCFTA is our economic choice. 

"This is not a contradiction. In terms of security, Armenia is tied to Russia. We are a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). But we also actively cooperate with NATO. Among the members of CSTO, only Armenia has sent its peacekeeping forces to the NATO peacekeeping missions of different parts of the world.

However, we have never said that we want to become a member of NATO - we are a member of CSTO. It is almost the same when it comes to economics. We are ready to harmonise our legislation with that of the EU and to share deep economic ties. But we have never said we want to become a member - this is the difference between Armenia and some other 'Eastern Partnership' countries," he said.