Armenia after the Vilnius summit

Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza

Armenia’s participation in the Eastern Partnership summit, which recently took place in Vilnius, was limited by signing a joint statement with the EU, which states its readiness to improve many-sided cooperation in the spheres of mutual interest. The document is a result of President Serge Sargsyan’s statement on Armenia’s intention to join the Russian-led Customs Union on September 3rd. The results of the summit caused an ambiguous reaction in political and expert circles of Armenia. Some supporters of European integration, who are governed by emotions and panic, speak about a huge loss for Armenia, a failure of the Western policy, and changes in the EU attitude toward Armenia.

According to expert Grant Kostanyan, as Armenia didn’t sign the association agreement (DCFTA), it lost the opportunity to reform the economy and the political field. According to the leader of the union ‘National Self-Identity’, Paruijar Ayrikyan, the President actually rejected progress of the Armenian nation and made a great mistake.

Supporters of European integration, who heavily criticize the authorities for choosing the Eurasian direction, are concerned that Armenia’s accession to the CU will lead to a loss of independence and the country becoming a part of the 'Russian Empire'.

“After September 3rd, Armenia shifted to a new stage which became the most fatal for the whole history of independence. Sargsyan who declared that our country was to join the CU gave a mandate to Russia for governance of Armenia,” the head of the ‘Consent’ Center of Political Studies, David Shakhnazaryan, is sure.

In return, representatives of the ruling Republican Party emphasize that Armenia’s choice is determined by questions of security, and there are no intentions to change the choice, while cooperation between Armenia and the EU will continue.

“Nobody has ever denied that relations between Armenia and Russia are strategic either during talks with the EU or after them. The EU’s mistake is that they thought that the CU and European integration are incompatible,” the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs, Artak Zakaryan, says.

In general, in discussions over Armenia’s choice of a development path a moderate and reasonable point of view prevails. Its supporters are sure that cooperation between Armenia and the EU will continue after the summit in Vilnius. An opportunity of signing the association agreement without DCFTA is not excluded.

According to some experts, the Eastern Partnership program launched dividing lines for Armenia at the stage; it was unacceptable for such a small country which has problems with neighbors and security of which is provided by Russia. The other sensitive point of view is that Russia considered the Eastern Partnership as establishing dividing lines against it.

In the context of another wave of the geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West, it is important for Armenia to take a position which excludes using it as a territory of clashes between world political centers. “We cannot belong to one system and have bad relations with another. Armenia is a country of compromises rather than contradictions. As there are Diasporas in many countries of the world, we should use our potential for peacemaking between Russia and the West, ” said the former aide of the Armenian president on national security, Ashot Manucharyan. It seems Armenia succeeds in this at the current stage.