Wednesday, September 18 2013

Armenia's planned accession to a Russian-led
customs union will have no fundamental impact on its relations with the United
States and Washington's security agenda in the region, U.S. Ambassador to
Armenia John Heffern said on Tuesday.

 

According to Asbarez, in an interview with RFE/RL's
Armenian service (Azatutyun.am), Heffern was cautious about the implications of
President Serzh Sarkisian's surprise foreign policy U-turn, echoing the U.S.
State Department's muted reaction to the development.

 

"U.S.-Armenian relations are based on our mutual
interest in Armenia's success," he said. "We also have other
interests in the region: a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, [Armenia's] normalization and reconciliation with Turkey. Iran is
another interest.  I don't see how this
affects any of those regional issues. The biggest question is the possible
impact on the domestic reforms."

 

Heffern stressed in that regard that the Armenian
government has assured both the U.S. and the European Union that it will carry
on with promised economic and political reforms after joining the Customs Union
of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

 

"Leaders of Armenia have publicly and privately
assured us and the EU that they intend to continue with the reform
process," he said. "We are going to continue to push and promote and
encourage and support that process in any way we can.

 

"The path that Armenia chooses as a sovereign
country is its choice.  So we are going
to continue to do what we've been doing."

 

The governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have
poor human rights records that have been strongly criticized by
Washington.  Armenian civil society
activists believe that membership in their union therefore does not bode well
for Armenia's democratization.

 

Heffern insisted that the Sarkisian government is
implementing "real reforms in some key sectors" such as state
procurements. But he said more needs to be done to combat corruption, boost the
rule of law and improve the country's flawed business environment. "There
needs to be a level playing field for international and local investors,"
he said.

 

Heffern welcomed Yerevan's plans to finalize an
Association Agreement with the EU as recently as on September 2, the day before
Sarkisian effectively thwarted that deal with his unexpected statement on
joining the customs union.

 

"I have felt and I still believe that … the EU
track was a good magnet to pull Armenia in the direction of democracy and good
governance," the envoy said on Tuesday. "But Armenia will choose its
own path, and there is nothing in the customs union that is going to prevent
Armenia from taking the necessary internal steps that the president, the prime
minister and everybody have publicly committed to take in terms of reform in
all key sectors."