The Russian Foreign Ministry: It's time for Armenia to make a decision: EU integration and simultaneous membership in the EAEU are "absolutely excluded."
The law adopted in Armenia on its course toward integration with the European Union precludes membership in the Eurasian Economic Space, stated Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"It's impossible to adopt EU standards while remaining a member of the EAEU. It's simply technically impossible. Different regulations apply to trade and investment, and they don't align with each other," he said, adding that this had already been explained to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on numerous occasions.
"Brussels wants to transform Armenia's legal framework to meet its standards. These standards, as in the case of Serbia, imply full alignment with EU foreign policy—anti-Russian sanctions, statements," the minister also recalled.
He added that visa liberalisation with Europe implies that “the EU wants to have a voice in law enforcement and border protection.”
"Our border guards are present in Armenia, and the question is already being raised about how this fits in with Yerevan's current commitments. Therefore, moving toward EU membership cannot be compatible with maintaining membership in the EAEU," Lavrov said, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent.
Lavrov stated that withdrawal from the EAEU is " the right of the Armenian people ," but the minister recalled that in 2015, when Armenia joined the EAEU, its GDP was $10,5 billion. However, over the ten years of its membership in the Eurasian Union, its GDP has more than doubled to $26 billion.
"The EAEU provides free access to markets," the Russian Foreign Minister recalled.
“ Combining participation both there and here is absolutely out of the question ,” he added.
Lavrov added that Moscow “watches with regret how the situation is developing” around the Armenian Church, which is being subjected to repression under the pretext of a “hybrid Russian threat.”
"The rapprochement with the EU does not pass without a trace," he said.
Lavrov recalled that Armenia recently received a grant from the EU:
"Brussels bureaucracy will force our Armenian friends to work for every cent of the tranche."
Lavrov expressed concerns that European bureaucrats had mentioned a "Moldovan scenario" for the upcoming elections in Armenia – Maia Sandu, as is well known, falsified the results by prohibiting the opening of a sufficient number of polling stations in Russia and Transnistria.
"The Moldovan scenario was that the elections were rigged in the most flagrant manner," the minister said.
Russian Foreign Ministry: It's time for Armenia to make a decision: EU integration and simultaneous membership in the EAEU are "absolutely excluded."