YEREVAN. – New circumstances will emerge prior to Armenia’s Customs Union accession in May 2014. 

Former Armenian MP, international analyst Hovhannes Igityan noted the above-said during a press conference on Monday.

In his words, by becoming a member in the Customs Union, Armenia will miss out on the opportunity to join the EU Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement, whereas the country’s opportunities in the EU economic field are inexhaustible.   

“If Armenia becomes a Customs Union member tomorrow, the Eurasian Economic Commission will become the economic bureau of Armenia. [And] Armenia’s loss, or minor benefit, will be calculated from here,” Igityan noted.

The former MP said Armenia has now become an unreliable partner for the EU, and even if the country were to withdraw its announcement on joining the Customs Union, there would be new terms and new processes for ultimately signing the Armenia-EU Association Agreement.  

As for the pressures that are put on Armenia to enter the Russia-led Customs Union, Igityan does not believe that an economic, a political or a military threat was made because, as per the international analyst, Armenia does not have anything more to give to Russia in these domains.

“There remains the threat in connection with the NKR [i.e., the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic] and Armenia’s security. [But] whether it [i.e., Russia] can pose a security threat, when it has sold weapons of mass destruction to Azerbaijan, is another matter.

“Solely Serzh Sargsyan can give the answer to the question on pressures. But he remains silent because only he can say what happened at the meeting with Putin,” Hovhannes Igityan concluded.              

To note, following the talks that were held on September 3 in Moscow between Armenian and Russian Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin, Sargsyan had announced that Armenia plans to join the Customs Union and subsequently engage in the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union.