YEREVAN. - France and Germany were among the first countries to approach Armenia’s accession to the EEU with understanding. According to them, there shouldn’t be “either, or” but “and…and.” Armenia’s Ambassador to Germany Ashot Smbatyan said the aforementioned at the meeting with the Armenian journalists in Berlin, responding to the question on whether Armenia’s accession to the EEU has negatively affected the work of the embassy.

“Frankly speaking, I have been appointed Ambassador to Germany since 15 October 2013. When I came here, there was no such pressure. You know very well that France and Germany were among the first countries which approached the policy adopted by Armenia with understanding,” the Ambassador said.

He declined to express his personal stance on the question on whether Armenia lost or benefitted by not signing the EU Association Agreement: “Armenia has foreign policy provisions and direction. As an Armenian Ambassador, I have to follow the political provisions of Armenia.”

To the comment of a journalist on that the Armenian economy hasn’t activated since the accession to the EEU, the Ambassador said: “Do you thing it’s because of joining the EEU or due to Russia’s sanctions in general? For most part it’s definitely due to the sanctions. Nowadays EEU was the demand of the Armenian economy.”

The visit of the Armenian journalists to Germany was organized by Deutsche Gessellschaft organization and Yerevan Press Club. In the framework of the project, the journalists met with Amabassador Smbatyan and familiarized themselves with the work of media outlets.