Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia needs both the EU and the EAEU until alternatives are developed from which the public can make a choice.
According to him, there could be a third initiative that is unrelated to either the EAEU or the EU, Panorama.am reports.
“We need the EU and the EAEU equally until the Armenian authorities fulfill their commitment to formulate alternatives and our people are able to make a choice. There could also be a third initiative — neither the EAEU nor the EU. And who said that everyone necessarily has to go somewhere? There could be a third option,” he said.
Recalling the Belarusian president’s well-known remark — “Who needs the Armenians?” — Pashinyan said the issue was not merely a statement by a particular politician and Armenia’s response to it.
“The issue is not that phenomenon itself. The issue is the perception underlying it. Ultimately, dear partners, we need to look each other in the eye and say that what the Belarusian president said reflects the perception of Armenia in a number of EAEU member states, a deep institutional perception, and it is a disrespectful one. What was that perception based on? It was based on the idea that, well, there is the Karabakh conflict, there is the conflict with Azerbaijan, there is the conflict with Turkey, those hostilities are insurmountable, so they have nowhere else to go. We can treat them however we want.
“When I said that the Karabakh issue was leverage, a rope, a cord or a trap, what did I mean? This is exactly what I meant,” he said.
Pashinyan said the Armenian people have not had an opportunity to make a genuine choice because the people of Armenia have repeatedly been led into traps.
“Now we want to create alternatives for the people of Armenia so that the people themselves can choose. If they choose the EAEU, then we will be in the EAEU; if they choose the EU, we will be in the EU. But that choice must be mature,” Pashinyan said.
He also said a referendum would be held when Armenia formally applies to the EU.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said Armenia must decide by December this year whether to hold a nationwide referendum on joining the EU or remaining in the EAEU.
“It is clear that if the call to hold a referendum is not heeded by then, the leaders will take that fact into account when determining the appropriate next joint steps,” he said.
