Choosing Europe will bring Armenia nothing good: Giorgi Dzhabishvili

Giorgi Dzhabishvili, international journalist, commented to Alpha News on the prospects of Armenia’s EU integration, drawing on the example of Georgia, as well as on the possibility of replacing the Russian market with the European one.

In the journalist’s view, Georgia has been promised EU integration prospects for decades with no result.

“Georgia is now, one might say, on the path toward the European Union. That is an undeniable fact. And Georgia’s Constitution explicitly states that our country’s course is toward NATO and European Union integration. But the question is different: how beneficial is this, and how much do the people actually living in Georgia want it. Because for more than 30 years now, the population has been promised fairy tales about the country joining the European Union, yet in reality we see that European parliamentarians and the EU are using Georgia, one might say, to taunt the Russian Federation. In truth, nobody is waiting for us there. There is the example of Turkey, which has been in line for several decades now, and nobody is inviting it in,” Dzhabishvili said.

According to the journalist, Georgia’s example shows that replacing the Russian market is extremely difficult.

“I respect Armenia’s sovereign choice, the fact that they voted and made their decision. But already now we can see the Russian Federation’s response: certain bans on the import of alcoholic and agricultural products. I don’t think Armenia will be able to replace that enormous, bottomless Russian market with the EU market. And for some reason, nobody tells Armenia or the people living there that the EU has certain quotas, it’s not as though they’re saying: ‘Bring us all your products.’ So I think the people of Armenia will feel the consequences of this choice firsthand, and they will have to either live with it or find some way to work things out later. But based on Georgia’s example, I can say that even now, the Russian Federation remains Georgia’s primary trade and economic partner. And this is despite the fact that there are no diplomatic relations between our countries: Russia and Georgia. And as for the Georgian population, I can say this responsibly as a journalist, having spoken with a wide variety of people, they have come to understand that the sooner we normalize relations with the Russian Federation, the sooner we will move closer to resolving our own internal issue regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well. I have great respect for Armenia’s choice, but I do not think it will bring the country anything good,” Dzhabishvili concluded.