Tension over the issue of Armenia's borders with the country's accession to the Eurasian Economic Union is being wiped up. The decision has already been adopted to admit Armenia to the EAU after all the roadmap-related procedures are completed, Yulia Yakusheva, Executive Officer at the Russian North-South Center for Political Studies, told ArmInfo.
"At the ceremony of signing the Agreement establishing the EAU in Astana, Vladimir Putin said that Armenia's accession to the new international organizations is possible in the near future. It is a consensus- based decision by all the members of the EAU. Therefore, I don't see any serious disagreements between the parties. There are fundamental principles, which all the members of the Union reckon with. EAU is established on the basis of the International Law, which recognizes Armenia within the borders acknowledged by the United Nations. Armenia's accession to the WTO or other international organizations aroused no serious disputes on the given issue," Yakusheva said.
According to her, it is very important that NKR comes out as an independent state, not as part of Armenia, and in such case, there is not even a subject for discussion. In this light, she said, Kazakh President Nazarbayev's statement ahead of signing the agreement stays within the general approaches of the parties to the issue. "Bargaining and manipulations is not Nazarabayev's work style. Armenia has been presented with all the possible preferences in the way to the Union. The "Eurasian Troika" has already studied the possibility of introducing the products made in Karabakh in the Eurasian market in case of appropriate marking. I'd like to reiterate that there are no serious obstacles to Armenia's accession to the EAU," she said for conclusion.
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, said on 29 May in Astana Azerbaijan claims that Armenia can join the Eurasian Economic Union (EAU) within the same borders it joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). "We have received the Azerbaijani president's letter saying that Armenia joined WTO with a reservation that the provisions must apply to the territory of Armenia within its international borders recognized by the UN. It is an issue for discussion," the Kazakh president said.