Statement by President Serzh Sargsyan at session of Supreme Eurasian Economic Council

Distinguished heads of states,

Honorable Nursultan Abishuly, I am grateful of you for inviting me to this important historic event – the signing ceremony of the Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union and to take part in the activities of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.

I cordially congratulate the heads of the Customs Union’s member states on the occasion of reaching a crucial milestone in establishing the Eurasian Economic Union, a union which will certainly predetermine further development of the states striving for membership.

There is no doubt that it is an outcome of the work implemented by a great number of experts and officials who managed to make compromise proposals by overcoming obstacles and disagreements, did they best to negotiate a mutually acceptable document. However, all of this would not have been reached without the political will of the state leaders and without the Eurasianist vision underlying this integration model.

Distinguished heads of states,

Regarding the issue of Armenia’s involvement in the Eurasian integration process, I would like to mention the following:

The concerted works implemented jointly with the relevant bodies of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia, as well as with the Eurasian Economic Commission, allowed us to prepare an agreement according to which Armenia will join the Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union. In that regard, I would like to thank all the representatives of the Customs Union’s member states and the Eurasian Commission for their professional elaboration of issues which allowed us to achieve the current results.

It was also made possible thanks to the recent years’ institutional reforms made by Armenia in compliance with international standards.

By following Armenia’s aim to sign the agreement on involving in the Eurasian integration process as quickly as possible we demonstrate utmost flexibility and constructiveness.

Our interest in signing the agreement on joining the Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union is conditioned by a number of factors: the roadmap for our membership has been drafted driven from the logic of Armenia’s integration in the Eurasian Union beginning January 2015. That term has already been fixed both by our businessmen and the public who should quickly get the answers to the questions being of interest to them.

Secondly, after we have joined the agreement, we should get down to adopting about 200 legal acts, making a series of vital systemic changes which will last at least 6 months.

Taking into account the above-mentioned and the fact that there are only 2-3 issues left on which mutually acceptable decisions have already been made at an expert level, I ask you to fix the deadline of signing the agreement according to which the Republic of Armenia will join the Agreement on the Eurasian Economic Union by June 15. Understanding that the deadline is very short, I am confident that you will show eagerness to find mutually acceptable solutions within 2-3 days which will satisfy both us and our colleagues.

I hope that today’s meeting will serve as an initial point for not only establishing the Eurasian Economic Union but also for its concomitant enlargement. For my part, I confirm my commitment to undertaking all necessary measures so that the agreement on Armenia’s membership is submitted to the National Assembly for discussion and approval in the briefest space of time.

Thank you for your attention.