Richard Giragosian: Door to Europe is closed but not locked

The failure to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union is a missed opportunity and a strategic mistake for Armenia, Director of Regional Studies Center, political scientist Richard Giragosian said at the discussion ‘Four Years of the Eastern Partnership: Results and Challenges’ today, when speaking about Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union.
In his opinion, the fact that decision was taken single-handedly bears evidence of the lack of responsibility in Armenia’s system of government.

“The September 3 decision will affect the coming generations. Armenia should understand that it has lost both an opportunity and authority. The door to Europe is closed, but not locked,” Giragosian said.

As regards the further relations between Armenia and the EU, Giragosian stressed the need to retain the achievements reached through hard negotiations in the past four years.

“Now we attach importance not to the Association Agreement, but to the fact that Armenia is an Eastern Partnership member,” he noted.

Another participant of the meeting, Director of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigorian considered Armenia’s intention to join the Customs Union and its steps in that direction as simply absurd, noting that there is no such union in practice.