Epress.am News from Armenia
There are no obstacles to Armenia becoming a member of the Customs Union, said Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan (pictured, left) on Saturday at a meeting of the youth wing of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia.
Responding to a question by one of the youth on Armenia's integration into the Eurasian Economic Union, considering Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev's letter read by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev (pictured, right) at the enlarged session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Astana, Sargsyan said:
“At first, I have to say that Armenia does not face any obstacle in becoming a member of the Customs Union. By referring to 2–3 issues, we mean [purely technical] issues […] which pertain to our trade relations. Concerning the words of Nazarbayev, it is first and foremost wrong to speak about borders. What borders are we talking about? Nagorno-Karabakh’s issue is not addressed in the framework of the Customs Union. Who says that we are going to join the Customs Union together with Nagorno-Karabakh? It is impossible because presently Nagorno-Karabakh does not constitute the part of Armenia at least according to our legislation and our notions. On the other hand, our membership in the Customs Union unequivocally stimulates the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Of course, we did not like what Nazarbayev said but it can’t harm us anyway."