YEREVAN. - It is necessary to change Armenia's orientation, withdrawing from the EAEU membership and holding a course for the West.

Head of the Free Democrats Party of Armenia, Khachatur Kokobelyan, said the aforementioned on Sunday, introducing the election program of the party.

In his words, currently one of the serious problems of Armenia is the absence of the rules of game. Of course, it is possible to establish them also within EAEU, but this is complicated for apparent reasons, Kokobelyan noted. According to him, in contrast, the cooperation with the West will enable Armenia become a competitive country.

''In the current conditions, if we remain EAEU members, we can come to face serious problems related to the physical security and even loss of our statehood,'' one of the candidates on the Free Democrats Party list, Ashot Yeghiazaryan, told Armenian News – NEWS.am.

But on the other hand, the cooperation with EU and US can give Armenia many allies and help solve a number of issues related to security, he added.

According to Yeghiazaryan, another important step is to sign a Charter on Strategic Partnership with the US, as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova did, and engage in a closer cooperation with the US in the sphere of economy, security and politics.
The exit from EAEU can also mean improvement of relations with Iran, which also stems from the interests of Armenia, the candidate said.

The program of the party consists of 10 key points, among which attention is attached to struggle against shadow economy. It also includes struggle against corruption, which will enable to bring from 600 million up to 1 billion USD to the state budget. The next point is to lower the level of unemployment up to 10.4 percent, and bring that of poverty from 30 to 15 percent. Furthermore, it is proposed to make reforms in the army and provide it with modern equipment, resolve the Karabakh issue by peaceful means through recognizing the independence of Artsakh, double the expenses on education and science, create normal conditions for small and medium-sized business, etc.