Withdrawal from the EAEU would not be beneficial for Armenia’s economy: Alibek Tazhibayev

Alibek Tazhibayev, Director of the Eurasian Monitoring Center for Analytical Research (Kazakhstan), commented to Alpha News on the sidelines of the 10th International Conference “Russia and the World: Dialogues 2026” on the likelihood of Armenia’s withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union.

“The thesis that Armenia is, to one degree or another, oriented toward withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union is, from the standpoint of world politics, fairly untenable, given that Armenia is a state that derives a considerable amount of economic benefit from its membership in the Union. In the context of Kazakhstan’s presidency of the EAEU in 2026, I am confident that the current leadership and chairs of the Union, who are, without question, our leading diplomats, will find ways to settle and resolve these issues. After all, Mr. Pashinyan still has parliamentary elections ahead of him, and it is important to understand here that Armenia’s relations with the EAEU, and indeed any state’s positioning in the world at large, need not always be tied to specific individuals or personal intentions. So what we are talking about here is an objective assessment,” Tazhibayev said.

According to the expert, Armenia is the EAEU’s leader in terms of economic growth rate.

“If one is guided by objective assessments of economic benefit, look at the economic growth figures Armenia has posted for 2024–2025. It is unquestionably the leader in terms of relative economic growth rate within the Eurasian Economic Union. I am confident that withdrawal from the EAEU would not be particularly beneficial for Armenia’s economy, notwithstanding the fact that there are intentions, or at least intentions being discussed behind closed doors, relating to closer alignment with European economic institutions, economic associations, and a degree of integration activity. That said, one must still proceed from the fact that within the EAEU, Armenian goods are in demand and have already built a consumer reputation. The consumer behavior model within the EAEU is an advantage that Armenia’s economy enjoys today and that, unfortunately, it may no longer be able to fully capitalize on within the framework of the European Union,” Tazhibayev concluded.