12 November 2013, 04:55
Political scientists associate Armenia's desire to join CU with Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
By joining the Customs Union (CU), Armenia will solve a number of problems, in the first place, of its own interests, the participants of the videoconference "Armenia and CU: Public Dimension of Eurasian Integration" held on November 8 believe.
Vyacheslav Kovalenko, the director of regional programmes of the Institute for Caspian Cooperation and a former Russia's Ambassador to Armenia, explained during the event that with the accession to the CU, Armenia will abolish customs duties and save about 1 million US dollars a year.
"In my opinion, the road to the European Union (EU) is the road to the hell," he said, adding that if Armenia signs an association agreement with the EU, it would just destroy the rest of its economy to the very end.
Sergey Minasyan, a political analyst and the deputy chairman of the "Kavkaz" Institute, suggested that Armenia had decided to join the CU because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"Armenia will get certain military and political dividends from the accession," he said.
According to Vyacheslav Kovalenko, if Armenia recognizes the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, the latter will also joins the CU. However, he pointed to the complexity of the issue, since Nagorno-Karabakh has its own status as an independent territory.
Author: Semyen Charny, Inessa Sargsyan Source: CK correspondents
