MOSCOW, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - Armenia has no alternative to membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), the head of the Alternative research center Tatul Manaseryan said.
"Armenia has chosen membership in the EEU mainly because it had no alternative, as in the current global situation Armenia simply could not remain aloof from global processes," Manaseryan said at a discussion organized by the Union of Armenians of Russia on Thursday.
According to the researcher, EEU membership is a serious challenge for Armenia. "We should be able to see the world from a larger scale, to diversify our foreign relations," Manaseryan said. He noted that calls for cooperation are currently coming from Brussels and Moscow, and in this case, Armenia can only win by using the benefits from the EEU and the European Union.
He stressed that it is first necessary to understand the risks faced by Armenia in connection with EEU entry as in terms of the benefits "everything is clear."
"It is naive to assume that the EEU is just about benefits, and that we will not face adverse effects. In fact there are a lot of threats and the risks are great, but we have to be optimistic and believe that everything will be fine," Manaseryan added.
On October 10, the EEU leaders signed an agreement on Armenia's accession to the EEU Treaty.
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan signed the treaty in May and have already ratified the document, which is to come into force on January 1, 2015. The republics of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have also expressed interest in joining the organization.
Under the treaty, member countries agree to guarantee the free flow of goods, services, capital and labor, and to implement a coordinated policy in the energy, industrial, agricultural and transport sectors across the union.
