Armenia is the only member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) that has a strategic agreement on a comprehensive and expanded partnership with the European Union (EU) . This format of cooperation between the republic and the EU can serve as a starting point for institutional interaction between the two integration unions.
Armenia is beginning to truly value membership in the EAEU. Before coming to power, Nikol Pashinyan advocated the country's withdrawal from the organization, but then he claimed that a change of power in Armenia does not imply a shift in geopolitics or in the strategic orientation of the country.
Armenia plays a connecting role between Iran and other EAEU countries, Iran and Western countries. Due to customs privileges, membership in the EAEU is very beneficial for Armenia, and there are many opportunities for development in this direction. Armenia's membership in the EAEU gives Iran the opportunity to have a transit platform to enter the larger markets of other states.
Nevertheless, after delaying the commissioning of the free economic zone in Magri for three years, the Pashinyan government at a meeting on April 15 made a belated decision to "create a staff of Armenia's trade attache' in Iran". As a result, trade with a large market is only $400 million per year.
In general, in the 1st quarter of 2021, Armenia's foreign-trade turnover with the EAEU countries decreased by 9.3% compared to the same period last year, as a result of which the share of the EAEU in the structure of the republic's foreign trade amounted to 30.5%.
As for cooperation with the European Union, the Armenian leadership also delays in making important decisions. A whole Armenia-EU Partnership Committee has been operating since 2017. The Armenian government is so slow that many of the financial resources allocated by the European Union for specific programs are returned back, as they did not have time to be realized.
Since 2015, representatives of European and Eurasian business circles within the framework of the Lisbon-Vladivostok initiative have been supporting the creation of a single economic space on the territory of the EU and the EAEU. By concluding a trade agreement between the two organizations, the EU could increase exports to the EAEU countries by more than 50%. The economic benefits to the business of both unions are clear.
With such an unlikely but real turn of events, Armenia will become a platform for strengthening cooperation between the two associations. The republic is also interested in creating a safe European-Eurasian zone, political and economic balance.
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