Armenia is forming new agenda with EU. Will it withstand pressure?  Armine Margaryan

ArmInfo. Armenia is forming a new agenda with the EU, which will become a serious burden for the  government, which will <take on> the implementation of this agenda. A similar point of view was expressed by Security expert, Chair of the Center for Women and Global Security Architecture Armine Margaryan   on July 3 at the forum <Armenia-Eastern Partnership-EU: Challenges and Opportunities for Partnership>.

According to her, since 2020 Armenia has been trying to free itself  from the shackles that have been imposed on it since the independence  of the Third Republic.  "What is happening in the Armenia-EU  relations should be viewed as a process: we have a Comprehensive and  Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), we are forming a new  partnership agenda with the EU, which will go much further than CEPA  in terms of political commitments and will place a very serious  burden on the shoulders of the government that will undertake the  obligation to implement this agenda," the expert noted.

According to her, it is in this vein that government officials  acknowledge that there is no simple scheme or some kind of "button"  that you can press to go through the entire process in an easier  mode.

Nevertheless, Margaryan is sure that the ball is in Armenia's court,  despite the fact that there is a risk of not withstanding the  pressure that a state that has decided to become closer to the EU  will face. Many countries have not withstood this pressure, for  example, neighboring Georgia, this can be facilitated not only by  insufficient "safety cushions" within the country, but also by  developments in the international arena, the expert noted. At the  same time, according to Margaryan, the <referendum> tool for  Armenia's membership in the European Union should be used. "This will  be necessary for the authorities, since then with this tool in hand  they will be able to form resistance to the threats emanating from  Russia. And these threats will certainly exist," the security expert  emphasized.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, on July 1 at the <Armenian Forum for  Democracy> in Yerevan, touching upon the advisability of holding a  referendum on joining the EU, said: <If we put this issue to a  referendum, we will have to conduct a campaign. When we conduct it,  people will ask questions - when, how, in what time frame, by what  steps? Does the European Union want this or not, is the European  Union ready? Can I answer these questions? - No," Pashinyan admitted.