The question of Armenia’s choice between the EU and the EAEU remains open: Andrey Areshev

Andrey Areshev, political analyst and expert at the Foundation for Strategic Culture, commented to Alpha News on Armenia’s foreign policy course and the debate over a referendum on its integration choice, speaking at a session of the “Lazarev Club.”

“During the recent Eurasian summit in Astana, and well before that summit, the Russian side and its partners in the Eurasian Economic Union proposed that the Armenian authorities hold a referendum on the choice between so-called European and Eurasian integration, given the benefits Armenia receives by remaining within the EAEU. Russian leaders both at the presidential level and at the government level have repeatedly and justifiably stated that simultaneous membership in two competing integration blocs is impossible, especially given the EU’s growing hostility toward Russia,” the expert said.

According to the political analyst, the current Armenian authorities are not planning for the long term but acting according to circumstances.

“Armenia’s response from Nikol Pashinyan was not long in coming, a response that, in my view, was predictable: Pashinyan stated that there is currently no need for such a referendum, and that it will be needed only when the issue comes to a head, which will not happen for a very long time, given the absence of any real institutional offers from Brussels. Candidate status, for example: Armenia is not a candidate, and beyond the lofty promises, politicized shows, and individual grants, which are not insignificant, there is legally nothing there. And so Pashinyan and his political strategists are hoping to string things along for an indefinitely long time, enjoying all the benefits of Eurasian integration while flirting with Europe. As for what comes next, well, wherever the road leads, it seems they are not planning for the long term,” Areshev said.