By Tatevik Lazarian published in The Armenian Mirror of Spectator
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — A Brussels official has praised Armenia’s progress in implementing reforms in key areas under its existing agreement with the European Union.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service published on Friday, August 9, Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for the European Union’s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said that the implementation of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) concluded between Armenia and the EU in 2017 was important not only in stimulating democratic and political reforms, but also “reforms that bring more economic growth, better jobs, more investments, increasing of the living standards.”
“I can say that what we are seeing is that Armenia made progress in implementing reforms in key areas such as political reforms, in judiciary, rule of law, in particular taking forward the very important police reform. And we see that there are steps being done also in other areas which are important. fight against corruption, for example, in the field of education, health, migration, civil protection. So this is very important and we can only encourage all the relevant stakeholders in Armenia to continue with a very, very good performance that is currently seen on the implementation of this agreement,” Stano said.
Armenia’s parliamentary opposition questions the democratic credentials of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s government, routinely criticizing it for a lack of reforms and alleged crackdown on political opponents, a claim rejected by government officials. Civil society groups also point to delays and shortcomings in implementing reforms, including those related to the police. Pashinyan and his allies have dismissed the criticism, asserting that the country has made significant strides in political and economic reforms since they came to power following the anti-government protests of 2018.
Stano noted that the new EU-Armenia Partnership Agenda that the 27-nation bloc is currently negotiating with Armenia is an update of the CEPA rather than a step towards potential EU accession.
“This is exactly the upgrade that would allow us more cooperation, that would expand the cooperation between the European Union and Armenia in all areas of mutual interest, because one of the principles of the European Union developing its relations with partners is to respond to the ambition of the partner. If we see, as we do in the case of Armenia, that there is willingness to do more in more areas and deeper and more intensively. And we respond to it,” Stano said.
He emphasized that the decision on Armenia’s future direction ultimately rests with the Armenian people.
“Everything when it comes to the future of a country is essentially in the hands of the people in that country. If Armenia decides that it wants to go one way and this way should be closer to the European Union, then the country should walk this way, of course, in the framework of the proper processes. At this stage, I think it’s very premature to discuss any possibility of enlargement because we don’t have an application. So in order to be able to discuss the European future of a country… we first need to see that the process would have started. In this case, it has not started formally. So we haven’t seen any application. We are aware of the discussions on whether Armenia should submit an application or not. But again, this is something to be decided entirely by the Armenian people themselves,” he said.
Recently, several pro-Western groups in Armenia have called for a referendum on joining the EU to be held later this year. The Pashinyan government held a parliamentary hearing on the matter, but the political majority has not yet given the green light to such a referendum.
In an address to the European Parliament last October, Pashinyan stated that Armenia is “ready to be closer to the European Union as much as the European Union considers it possible.”
Last month, however, the Armenian leader voiced misgivings about the idea of a referendum on Armenia’s membership in the EU advocated by his political allies, suggesting that the Armenian government should clarify whether the EU is ready to admit the South Caucasus country before holding such a vote.
“If we hold a referendum today, we need to campaign,” Pashinyan told a conference in Yerevan on July 1. “When we campaign, people will ask us whether the EU wants that or not. They will tell me. You declared that Armenia is ready to be as close to the EU as the EU is ready. Now how ready is the EU?’ Can I answer that question today? No, I can’t.”
Stano emphasized that Armenia’s potential accession to the EU is not on the agenda in Brussels because, as he said, “Armenia has not completed all the necessary domestic processes to be able to express itself whether it wants to join the EU or not, and whether it wants to submit the application or not.”
At the same time, the EU official clarified that Armenia’s potential path towards closer ties with the EU is independent of Georgia’s or other countries’ processes. “Every country has the right to decide which way they want to go and how they want to shape their future. In general, when we are talking about accession of different countries, there is absolutely no link between the countries themselves and their accession process,” he said. “So in this sense, even in the potential discussions or abstract discussions about a possible future of Armenia linked to the European Union, it would have nothing to do with Georgia or with Ukraine, or with Moldova. It would be linked only to Armenia, to the developments in Armenia, to the reforms in Armenia and to the relationship between Armenia and the European Union, no one else.”
Moscow Again Lashes Out At West Over Armenia
Meanwhile, Russia again accused the West of promoting a “destructive agenda” for the South Caucasus, reiterating what a senior Foreign Ministry official in Moscow has described as “centuries-old ties” with Armenia and its people.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, on Thursday reacted to recent comments by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O’Brien who said during a July 30 hearing at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Washington was assisting Armenia’s political leadership in its efforts to “break with Russia.”
O’Brien also argued that “much of the population [of Armenia] wants to get further from Russia” after Moscow failed to guarantee Armenia’s security following the 2020 war with Azerbaijan and “turned its back as Azerbaijan retook the territory around Nagorno-Karabakh. “
In her response to a question posed by a state-funded Russian media outlet, Zakharova rejected these statements by the senior US official as unfounded. She stressed that “centuries-old ties between Russia and Armenia will withstand all the tests that the West puts them through.”
“The American official only reaffirmed what we regularly tell our partners, including in Yerevan, namely, that the West is promoting a destructive agenda in the South Caucasus, with the main goal of fragmenting the region and destroying Russia’s historical ties with its traditional allies and neighbors,” Zakharova claimed.
“Throughout history, we have repeatedly lent a shoulder to the brotherly Armenian people, and we intend to do so in the future,” she added.
This is not the first time Moscow officials have attempted to put a brave face on what has clearly been a rapidly deteriorating relationship between Russia and Armenia over security issues.
Armenia has effectively suspended its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization and is threatening to withdraw from the Moscow-led security grouping of six former Soviet nations altogether due to its failure to respond to repeated border incursions from Azerbaijan in 2021 and 2022. At the same time, Yerevan has strengthened its military ties with Western nations, including France and the United States. Armenia, a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, has also been more vocal recently about its potential bid to join the European Union.
A survey conducted by the Washington-based International Republican Institute in March showed that 66 percent of people in Armenia had a negative view of Russia, compared to 49 percent who felt the same way a year earlier.
