Armenia will initial the Association Agreement with the EU at the Summit in Vilnius in November. There is every reason for that, says Secretary of the National Security Council of Armenia Arthur Baghdasaryan.
"Rapprochement with the EU and the political reforms emanating from remain a priority for Armenia," he told media.
He disagreed with the views that Armenia's decision to join the Customs Union with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will become an obstacle on the way towards Association with the EU.
"Negotiations have been held with the EU for three years, a huge work has been done in the field. And the political component, namely, the Association Agreement, is very important for us. As regards the Customs Union, there were continuous negotiations also in the given dimension. We concealed nothing from our European partners and the public. We weighed all the cons and pros of joining the Customs Union and arrived at a conclusion that all this fully meets our national interests," Baghdasaryan said. He recalled that Armenia and the Customs Union members have common security system - CSTO. And in this case, it is extremely difficult to enter an absolutely different economic system.
On September 3 in Moscow, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan confirmed Armenia's intention to join the Customs Union and the process of the formation of the Eurasian Union. Vladimir Putin supported Sargsyan's decision and promised to contribute to Yerevan's accession to the Customs Union in every possible way. Meanwhile, Armenia was expected to initial an Association Agreement with EU, including DCFTA, at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius in November along with some other countries.