YEREVAN. – We stand ready to sign the Armenia-EU Association Agreement; this agreement is important for us because much work has been done with Europe in this direction, and there are very considerable achievements.     

Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan noted the aforesaid during a briefing with news reporters following Thursday’s Cabinet session. 

“It is not true that the European side is facing a surprise. Before going to Moscow, our European partners were informed that such result was possible. It is another thing that new discussions are necessary in a new situation.

“We will continue the cooperation with Europe, [but] with a difference that the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement [with EU] will become incompatible with the Customs Union. 

“Becoming a Customs Union member means an absence of sovereignty of independent decisions to some degree; [but] this refers to any customs union. And this is very natural because in this case there is a supranational body which decides the [customs] tarrifs,” Kocharyan stated.      

The deputy FM stressed that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s announcement on Armenia’s deciding to become a Customs Union member was neither sudden nor unexpected.     

“As a result of intense negotiations, solutions were found that make Armenia’s Customs Union accession beneficial,” he said.     

Shavarsh Kocharyan added that the above-said solutions will be made public soon.