Papoyan: no agenda to leave EAEU

PanARMENIAN.Net - Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan stated there is no agenda for Armenia to exit the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

Speaking after a cabinet meeting, Papoyan was responding to discussions following the joint press conference of Armenian and Russian Foreign Ministers Ararat Mirzoyan and Sergey Lavrov, where Mirzoyan said Armenia has not applied for EU membership and no negotiations are ongoing, 1lurer.am reports.

“At the same time, we are aligning our laws and regulations with the world’s best practices. For instance, next week, the National Assembly will adopt four EU directives related to consumer rights and competition,” Papoyan noted. “If the best regulations on competition and consumer protection are in the EU, why shouldn’t we implement them?”

He also clarified that political forces proposing a bill to begin the EU accession process are not affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract Party. The bill, supported by over 50,000 citizen signatures, was a way for the government to show its stance, he added.

On March 26, Armenia’s parliament passed a bill in its final reading to launch the EU accession process, originally submitted by the Eurovote civic initiative and approved by the government in January. However, the EU has not issued any official invitation for Armenia to begin accession talks, and opposition parties have dismissed the bill as legally nonsensical.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk has also warned that Armenia cannot “sit on two chairs” and will eventually have to choose between the EAEU and the EU.