Armenia moving toward EU

[Parskahay]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

france is "ally" with all counties in the world except Germany they are just so kind and armenia is no exception.
i rather SOME eastern Europe contries.not all of them of course.Romania is not that bad as other EU countries and have many armenian diaspora in it.but if we gonna rely on anything thats ourselves and armenia but if we seek a little help it should be Russia or Iran

[hipeter924]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

france is "ally" with all counties in the world except Germany they are just so kind and armenia is no exception.
i rather SOME eastern Europe contries.not all of them of course.Romania is not that bad as other EU countries and have many armenian diaspora in it.but if we gonna rely on anything thats ourselves and armenia but if we seek a little help it should be Russia or Iran

France wants to be friends with everyone, only because it wants to trade with them. It hides a nasty colonial past especially French Indo-China, the pacific islands (with its nuclear tests) and Algeria; and its an infamous backstabber so I would not trust France too much.

As for the EU it is a mixed bag, some countries in the EU are weak economies and some small powerhouse economies like Denmark, Sweden, Holland,etc; the EU should do okay unless Turkey is allowed entry in which case the racial and religious divisions will split Europe apart and likely dissolve the EU. Even now people are angry about Islamic immigration, currently Turkey can't enter the EU because of veto power of the Balkan nations.

[Alexandros]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

France wants to be friends with everyone, only because it wants to trade with them. It hides a nasty colonial past especially French Indo-China, the pacific islands (with its nuclear tests) and Algeria; and its an infamous backstabber so I would not trust France too much.

As for the EU it is a mixed bag, some countries in the EU are weak economies and some small powerhouse economies like Switzerland; the EU should do okay unless Turkey is allowed entry in which case the racial and religious divisions will split Europe apart and likely dissolve the EU. Even now people are angry about Islamic immigration, currently Turkey can't enter the EU because of veto power of the Balkan nations.

Just a correction - Switzerland is not an EU member.

[hipeter924]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

Just a correction - Switzerland is not an EU member.

True.

*changed it*

Irony here is that I have a map of Europe on my wall.

[jgk3]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

Tigranakert, stop with the character assassinations. You can express your opinion without calling Mos an idiot or a non-Armenian.

And for the record, I think Serzh is just giving a friendly word to the EU and nothing more. Am I the only one who is sees these statements as just diplomatic courtesy? In the end, the country that has military influence over Armenia will have the say over what kind of "reforms" are going to happen in Armenia, how "free" the market is going to be, and ultimately, who's lapdog we're going to be for the next while. And guess who that is. Hint: it's not the EU.

If Armenia can benefit from giving the EU nothing more than a bunch of speeches like this, proclaiming that Armenians are "European", and backing it up with an occasional crackdown on corruption, or some healthy trade agreements, why are we freaking out?

Why are we bringing up how morally bankrupt Europe is?
How Germany, Britain and France were involved at some level in the genocide?
How the EU isn't independent from what happens in Wall Street?

It's just lip service imo.

The actual political realities behind these events are quite detached from the actual moral sentiments that dwell in anyone's hearts, but when we, the people, only comprehend sentiments and morals, of course we won't see the speeches of our leaders for what they really are.

And lastly, if Armenia wants to back down on the EU if anything gets too serious, all it has to do is reach into a nice little hat with folded papers, each one written with some morally wrong, or economically risky fact about the EU, and pick one out as a pretext for canceling the deal.... at any time!

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

Tigranakert, stop with the character assassinations. You can express your opinion without calling Mos an idiot or a non-Armenian.

And for the record, I think Serzh is just giving a friendly word to the EU and nothing more. Am I the only one who is sees these statements as just diplomatic courtesy? In the end, the country that has military influence over Armenia will have the say over what kind of "reforms" are going to happen in Armenia, how "free" the market is going to be, and ultimately, who's lapdog we're going to be for the next while. And guess who that is. Hint: it's not the EU.

If Armenia can benefit from giving the EU nothing more than a bunch of speeches like this, proclaiming that Armenians are "European", and backing it up with an occasional crackdown on corruption, or some healthy trade agreements, why are we freaking out?

Why are we bringing up how morally bankrupt Europe is?
How Germany, Britain and France were involved at some level in the genocide?
How the EU isn't independent from what happens in Wall Street?

It's just lip service imo.

The actual political realities behind these events are quite detached from the actual moral sentiments that dwell in anyone's hearts, but when we, the people, only comprehend sentiments and morals, of course we won't see the speeches of our leaders for what they really are.

And lastly, if Armenia wants to back down on the EU if anything gets too serious, all it has to do is reach into a nice little hat with folded papers, each one written with some morally wrong, or economically risky fact about the EU, and pick one out as a pretext for canceling the deal.... at any time!

This is well put. Armenia should take advantage of whatever it can without forgetting who the real boss is.

[Mos]

Cooperation with Russia not at odds with Armenia’s European orientation

A good speech by Serzh, again highlighting that our political relations don't interfere with our strategic relations with Russia. Let me give you some examples:

Georgia
Political: EU
Strategic: NATO

Armenia
Political: EU
Strategic: Russia/CSTO

Belarus
Political: Russia
Strategic: Russia/CSTO

I think our position right now is the best.

Cooperation with Russia not at odds with Armenia’s European orientation

18.12.2010, 20.42





YEREVAN, December 18 (Itar-Tass) -- Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said cooperation with Russia did not contradict his country’s European orientation.

“Armenia’s current foreign policy agenda has no question of full membership in the European Union” but “the European rules of the game, European criteria should be adapted and introduced in our country as much as possible,” Sargsyan said at a meeting marking the 20th anniversary of the ruling Republican Party on Saturday, December 18.

“These are high and time-tested criteria” which are “vital for making tangible progress, changing our way of life and also for increasing the organisational strength of our public,” the president said.

“One should not look for a contradiction with Armenia’s being a member of the CIS, the CSTO and strategic partner of Russia… our multifaceted, close and I would say in many cases exemplary cooperation with the Russian Federation cannot contradict the values that have been proclaimed by Russia itself,” Sargsyan said.

He believes that “our friends in Russia, the in the West and elsewhere will only welcome our achievements.”

“When we say enhanced democracy or deeper implantation of European criteria, these are not just slogans or simply words addressed to some other audience. This is what Armenia needs in the first place, not Europe,” he said.

“This is our conscious choice and our conviction… The European type of democracy and legality is the demand of our public, which it expressed repeatedly and clearly, including during elections,” the president said.

In his opinion, Armenia should follow “European criteria from food products displayed in a show window to the state and legal system.”

Earlier, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan said earlier that relations between his country and Russia were “truly unique”.

“Friendship between our peoples is of paramount importance for us, a real asset, and we should assert every effort to keep and further it,” the prime minister said.

“Our countries cooperate most intensively in all fields of interstate relations without exception. Over the past years Russian-Armenian cooperation has developed into a rather complex and multifaceted structure, and the inter-governmental commission is called upon to service this complex structure,” he said.

Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan said also confirmed that Russia was a “very important” trade and economic partner for Armenia and its main investor.

“Russia is also the main external market for Armenian products,” the minister said.

“We are developing very successful cooperation in the field of energy, including atomic energy, transport, ore mining, innovative technologies, and many other fields,” he said.

“The total volume of Russian investments in Armenia stands at 2.75 billion U.S. dollars. There are 1,400 enterprises with Russian capital in Armenia,” Nalbandyan said, adding that about 200 agreements and treaties had been signed, new agreements were being drafted and old ones being updated.

“We will do our best to expand, strengthen and develop relations between our countries,” he said.

“Naturally, we attach great significance to humanitarian cooperation as well in such fields as culture, education, science, healthcare, tourism, sport, festivals, cultural days,” the minister said.

“We pay a great deal of attention to the Russian language. There are 40 schools in Armenia that have classes where teaching is conducted in Russian. More than 3,000 students are studying at the Russian-Armenian (Slavic) University where teaching is in Russian,” Nalbandyan said.

“Russian television channels are available in all settlements across Armenia. Newspapers are published in Russian, and many mass media, practically most of them, have Russian-language versions of their websites,” he said.

According to Nalbandyan, “All this is very important for preserving and strengthening spiritual and cultural closeness between the two peoples and two countries. And we will continue paying much attention to this area of cooperation.”

In his opinion, Russian-Armenian relations are “not just friendly” but are “at their highest point” and “are a perfect model for bilateral cooperation, most successful and effective in the post-Soviet space.”

“When we say we have relations of strategic allies, these are not just words. In fact, strategic partnership or allied cooperation cannot be lasting if there are no deep ties between the peoples, if there is no sympathy and warm relations between them,” the minister said.

“We have always been together in peacetime and in hardships,” he said.

[Tigranakert]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

Praise for our president Serge Sarkisyan, a true patriot and war veteran. Currently busy with doing what he already envisaged years ago, cleaning the government and trowing out the dirty criminals like Grzo. BRAVO

[Mos]

Re: Armenia moving toward EU

I'm starting to like Serzh more and more, especially after this recent clean-out of his cabinet (e.g removing chorni gago) and determination to improve Armenia's political situation and rid it of corruption.

Still a long ways to go, but at least it seems that Serzh is taking an initiative. We'll see where it goes..