ArmInfo. The parliamentary majority of the National Assembly of Armenia at a meeting on October 4 rejected the legislative initiative of the opposition faction "Elk" on the creation of a temporary parliamentary commission to study the issue of leaving the republic from the Eurasian Economic Union.
In support of his initiative, the head of the faction Nikol Pashinyan listed several key factors, in his opinion. Thus, the draft decision says that for three years of the republic's membership in the EEA, Armenia's GDP in dollar terms decreased by 8%, employment decreased by 13%, international reserves decreased by 40%, public debt grew by 10%. At the same time, there was a reduction in investments in the country's economy. So, if in 2014 the volume of investments made 167 billion drams (about $ 350 million), then in 2016 this figure amounted to 81 billion drams.
In the "Elk" bloc believe that Armenia's participation in this integration association limits the opportunities for expanding trade relations with third countries, including neighboring Georgia and Iran. Also in the faction believe that, contrary to the agreement on the EAEC, freedom of movement of capital, goods, services and labor is not ensured. "The EAPC member countries do not contribute to the peaceful resolution of the Karabakh problem, moreover, some of them at the highest level have repeatedly expressed their support for the aggressive policy of Azerbaijan, while the strategic partner of Armenia - Russia continues to arm Azerbaijan, providing about 85% of the Azerbaijani arsenal of modern offensive weapons" , - the draft decision says.
The authors also refer to the "permanent introduction of authoritarian traditions in the Armenian political system existing in a number of the EAEC countries," and as a consequence - the increase in the number of violations of the rights and freedoms of Armenian citizens. Taking into account the above facts, the faction considers Armenia's continued presence in the EEA as a dangerous and fraught threat for the country.
ArmInfo.Armenian National Assembly discusses legislative initiative of oppositional faction Yelk on creating temporal commission on withdrawal of the republic from Eurasian economic union.