Delay in Armenia's accesion to EEU is due to technical reasons, not political ones: expert

Armenia's accession into the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) is delayed due to organizational reasons, not geopolitical or political ones. The view was expressed by Sergey Minasyan, Deputy Director of the Caucasus Institute, at a press conference on Tuesday, Tengrinews reports referring to RIA Novosti.

Signing of the documents for Armenia' accession into the Eurasian Economic Union was scheduled for July 1, 2014, but this deadline has long passed and the process is protracted.

“Armenia is joining the union that formally does not exist yet. The document to create it was signed a month ago, and the union will come into force on January 1, 2015, ” Sergey Minasyan said.

According to the political expert, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus have different views on some important issues, and Armenia may be used by Belarus and Kazakhstan as leverage against Russia.

In any case, amid the current situation, it would not be possible for Armenia to return its relationships with the European Union to the point where used to be before September 3, 2013, when Armenia announced its intention to join the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and subsequently to take part in the EEU, Minasyan said.

According to the expert, changes in Armenia's relationships with the EEU should be expected this fall, and in its relationships with the EU -  in October-November, 2014. “The date of Armenia’s accession into the EEU should be announced by that time. Besides, Armenia will have enough time to formulate the restrictions and limitations to be considered during developing political and economic relations with the European Union,” the expert said.

Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov also said that the agreement on Armenia's accession into the EEU would mostly likely be singled in October 2014 at the meeting of the EEU member-countries' presidents in Minsk.

The EEU is an economic union created on 29 May 2014 by the treaty signed by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia that will come into effect on January 1, 2015. The union establishes a framework for a comprehensive integration of its member-states and creates a single market of 171 million people and a GDP of 3 trillion dollars.

Writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina