Armen Ashotyan: Armenia is ready to sign a new agreement with the EU

ArmInfo. "Armenia is ready to sign a new agreement with the EU," Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of Armenia Armen  Ashotyan stated at a meeting with journalists on November 11.

According to him, readiness for signing the agreement was also  announced from the European side. "We are already planning more, you  probably already know that even before signing the agreement, the  parliamentary commission decided to appoint extended parliamentary  hearings on December 1," Ashotyan said. At the same time, as the  parliamentarian pointed out, this, in addition to providing a number  of organizational issues, is, in a sense, a political message,  demonstrating the desire of the Armenian side to sign this agreement.

The head of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the  Parliament stressed that after signing this agreement, Armenia  pretends to become a vivid example of the principle "More for more"  ("more for more", or "each according to merit", ed.), Proclaimed by  the EU. The Republic, as Ashotyan noted, will eventually be able to  destroy the stereotype formed in the EU that Georgia occupies a  special place in the South Caucasus region from the point of view of  democratic reforms, regardless of the level of development and  democratization in Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to Ashotyan, the  ultimate goal of the agreement for Armenia is to ensure that RA  ordinary citizens, as a result of ongoing reforms, live in a better  country. It is also an opportunity for Armenia, finally, to distance  itself from Azerbaijan in terms of implementing reforms and  democratic reforms.

Earlier, the head of the parliamentary commission on foreign affairs  Armen Ashotyan expressed hope that the European Union will  demonstrate the political will towards the early signing of the  Agreement on an expanded and comprehensive partnership with Armenia,  stressing that administration of such documents by the European side  quite complex, certain technical issues may arise. He reminded that  all EU countries should sign the document, meanwhile, many of them  are currently in the pre-election cycle. "Nevertheless, I hope that  the EU will show political will and the document will be signed  soon," he said, stressing that Armenia is ready to sign the document  at the forthcoming Eastern Partnership summit in November, and this  was announced by the highest the country's leadership. Ashotyan also  stressed the importance of the fact that the document fixes the  provision on the necessity of a peaceful settlement of the Karabakh  conflict under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. "This means that  the EU officially emphasizes its disagreement with the destructive  policy of Baku in the Karabakh settlement," he said.

The document consists of 357 pages and 386 chapters and regulates the  general principles, approaches and values of political and economic  cooperation between Armenia and the EU. As for the economic component  of the document, it says that Armenia should bring its economic  policy in line with EU standards. In turn, the EU undertakes to  assist in ensuring the independence of the Central Bank of Armenia,  the stability of prices in the country's market, and its financial  reliability. In the political part of the document, the emphasis is  on simplifying the visa regime and starting a dialogue on its  liberalization with a view to stimulating mutual visits of RA and EU  citizens. The agreement also contains provisions on the Karabakh  conflict. The document emphasizes the importance of Armenia's  readiness to settle the Karabakh conflict peacefully and the need for  its early resolution within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group.  The document also talks about Armenia's obligation to close the  nuclear power plant and build a new one. Note that it was originally  announced that the document was signed in November at the Eastern  Partnership summit in Riga, but now many experts predict that the  signing will not take place in the announced terms. Initially, the  parties also did not announce the promulgation of the document until  its final signing, but by mutual consent it was decided to  familiarize the Armenian and EU societies with it before signing. The  signing of a framework agreement with the EU is planned during the  Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels on November 24.