ArmInfo. Armenia's accession to the European Union will result in the republic's withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the closure of the EAEU market for this country, as stated by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk to journalists on January 29, TASS reports. "The solution here is obvious: opening markets with the European Union will mean closing markets with the Eurasian Economic Union. Otherwise, our producers in the Eurasian Economic Union will suffer," the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation noted. He specified that for Armenia, "zeroing import customs rates with the EU will automatically mean a return to customs and customs tariffs with the EAEU."
"For us, of course, this is a signal that the beginning of joining the European Union is the beginning of leaving the EAEU," Overchuk said. He is sure that "this is obvious to anyone who is at least a little familiar with how these two integration associations are structured." "Here they [the Armenian side] absolutely clearly know that the consequences will be like this. No one should have any illusions here," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
According to his assessment, "the people currently involved in the discussions in Armenia, who claim that it finding a solution is possible, to put it mildly, are misleading the Armenian people." Overchuk noted that the process of Armenia's accession to the EU will be lengthy, and called for waiting for the results of the hearings in the Armenian parliament on this issue.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation noted that the issue of Armenia's desire to integrate into the European Union will not be addressed at the meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council in Kazakhstan. "Our agenda has already been approved and agreed upon, it is about the Council of the Eurasian Commission. These issues will not be brought up here, there is a completely different agenda in place," he said.
