BHK still undecided on EEU membership
On November 14, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia upheld the treaty on the country’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, thereby paving the way for its ratification in parliament. The Union of Informed Citizens tried to find out the opinions of parliamentary factions on the EEU membership. “Both the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) and Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) are well-disposed to the accession. However, Dashnaktsutyun has some reservations. Head of the Heritage faction Ruben Hakobyan declined to answer our question. However, the party's election platform states that Armenia must sign an Association Agreement with the EU, which means that Armenia cannot join the EEU, because the latter prohibits its member states to sign free trade agreements with a third country. This was reaffirmed in the letter of Heritage lawmaker Zaruhi Postanjyan and in the party’s statements. Let us add that recently, Mr Hakobyan announced that his party is against the ratification of the EEU membership since it finds it anti-constitutional. The Country of Law (OEK) is also for bettering Armenia’s relations with Europe which means the party is against the EEU membership. However, Head of the OEK faction Heghine Bisharyan also violated the law and refrained from answering our question. So it is difficult to give any precise information about the party’s position. Levon Zurabyan, Head of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) parliamentary group, said the faction had not discussed the issue yet. Despite his words, Armenia’s first President, HAK Leader Levon Ter-Petrosyan repeatedly expresses a position opinion on the EEU in his speeches and even makes such statements [on its constitutionality] that justifies Armenia’s accession to the structure. The most striking was the response given by Naira Zohrabyan, Secretary of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) who said in her letter [on November 12] that ‘the faction will discuss the issue after the signing of the treaty.’ It means that Naira Zohrabyan, who also chairs the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on European Integration, is apparently unaware that the treaty was signed on October 10. At the same time, she said her teammates hold different opinions on the issue and a vote would be held to clarify the party’s stance," says the Union of Informed Citizens.
