Armenia will not be accepted into EU even to spite Russia, expert says

 
Speaking with Alpha News, political scientist Dmitry Rodionov commented on the crisis in Armenian-Russian relations, the possibility of Armenia’s European integration, and Azerbaijan’s demands on Armenia.

According to the expert, relations between Russia and Armenia are experiencing a certain crisis because the Armenian authorities are trying to have it both ways.

“Russia and Armenia are the closest allies. This alliance is both political and military-political. Armenia is part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which ensures its security, and part of the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union). About a third of the Armenian economy works in conjunction with the EAEU. The relations between Russia and Armenia are now experiencing a certain crisis because the Armenian authorities are trying to have it both ways and turn towards the West. Of course, Moscow does not like this, so Moscow is giving a clear and unambiguous signal that something needs to be done about this policy,” Rodionov said.

According to the political scientist, Armenia will not be accepted into the EU, even to spite Russia.

“No sane person would ever imagine that Armenia could be accepted into the European Union, even if some hypothetical referendum were held and 100% of residents voted to join the EU.

All the countries that eventually joined the EU also held referendums on joining, where the majority supported the idea, but they held the referendum after they had fulfilled all the EU conditions, received candidate status, and, accordingly, received an invitation from the EU. No one is inviting Armenia to the EU, so holding a referendum is, in principle, ridiculous. No one will accept Armenia into the EU under any circumstances, even to spite Russia. Armenia may be of interest to the European Union only as a transit territory bypassing Turkey, but this is also quite hypothetical since there are too many costs and too many problems,” Rodionov said.

Speaking about how Azerbaijan will act in relation to Armenia in the future, the expert noted that Ilham Aliyev will demand more and more.

“It is absolutely clear that Aliyev proceeds from the logic that ‘if the enemy makes concessions, why should I be content with what he gives me and not demand more?’ If Baku sees that Yerevan is ready to cede more and more territory, then it is expected that appetite comes with eating. There will definitely be new demands, new conditions. Moreover, this situation is beneficial to the West because the West needs a constant escalation of the conflict. I am not saying, of course, that it will lead to a new war, a new armed conflict, but I have absolutely no doubt that there will be constant turbulence,” Rodionov concluded.