YEREVAN. – Armenia’s membership in the Customs Union will reduce the level of the country’s security and lead to problems in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.  

Modus Vivendi Center Director, political scientist Ara Papyan stated the abovementioned during a press conference on Monday.

He recalled that two primary arguments are made in favor of joining the Customs Union. One of them is the politico-military advantage, which assumes the Karabakh issue, and the second is the security of Armenia.   

“But what does the Customs Union have to do with these matters? Until now, I thought that our security was ensured by the big Armenian-Russian agreement and the CSTO [i.e., the Collective Security Treaty Organization] membership,” Papyan stressed.  

The analyst explained that the prices for importing of weapons from the countries not included in the Customs Union will increase by 20 percent. 

“That is, Russia will become the only source of arms supply for us. Under such prices, the other countries will not be competitive; this in turn means the dwindling of our security options,” the political analyst stated.  

As for the argument that Armenia is joining the Customs Union for the sake of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR), Papyan noted that certain products are imported from NKR to Armenia, at present. And if Armenia joins the Customs Union, customs checkpoints will be set up between Armenia and NKR, and the latter will have to pay customs duties, not to Armenia, but rather to the Customs Union.        

“Will the NKR economy be able to endure the conditions of these additional costs? Of course not,” Ara Papyan concluded. 

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am