Armenia outside European integration process – Ararat Zurabyan

By deciding in favor of the Customs Union, Armenia made a choice of civilization and remained outside the process of integration with Europe, Ararat Zurabyan, a member of the action group for a new Pan-Armenian National Movement party, told journalists on Tuesday. 

He is surprised at the U-turn Armenia made on September 3, whereas it had pursued a pro-European policy before.

Integration into Europe was of paramount importance for Armenia and would have brought about radical changes in the situation.

“Unfortunately, we remained outside the process. But Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia go on and Association Agreements with them are likely to be initialed or signed,” Zurabyan said.

The first loss on this way is President Serzh Sagsyan’s promise of wage increase.

“He promised a double increase in wages from January 1, 2013. Later, when it was clear Armenia would move toward the Customs Union, the prime minister stated the wages would be raised 40% from next summer,” Zurabyan said.

It should be noted that Armenia’s president promised a double increase in wages by 2017, that is, a gradual increase from January 1, 2014 to 2017.

With respect to a possible demand for a checkpoint on Armenia’s border with Nagorno-Karabakh in the case of both an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) and membership in the Customs Union, Zurabyan said that European officials gave the best answer by stating they are well aware that products manufactured in Nagorno-Karabakh are exported as if made in Armenia, with no problems so far.