YEREVAN. – Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union does not mean the country has abandoned the European vector and we have returned to the Soviet Union.  

Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat of Armenia’s opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party Yerevan Bureau and Head of the Armenian Cause Yerevan Office, stated the abovementioned during a press conference on Friday.

In Manoyan’s words, the problem here is that the aforesaid decision seems to have been made in Moscow.

“Even the [Armenian] President’s phrases are a bit different than the formal statements. Nothing is said as to who has decided [it], [and] where was [it] decided. The mistake here is the way of making this decision,” the ARF official maintained.     

In his words, however, this decision does not mean Armenia will become a part of the Customs Union soon, but the country will be required to make a choice. 

Manoyan also complained that the Armenian authorities had not prepared the country’s other political forces for this decision.  

“They had not prepared the European Union either, and this can cause dissatisfaction; not the decision [itself], but rather the fact that they had not informed them. Had they carried out respective activities, the complaints would have been less in our society, too,” Giro Manoyan noted.     

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am