Pleading For Armenia's Accession To The European Union

An enlarged version of a Master thesis for a M. A. degree in European Studies (University of
Flensburg / Germany, International Institute of Management and European Studies), this book
based on a lot of sources, interviews and other empirical research shows a thorough scientific
depth. Besides it is the first book in the literature landscape by any – in this case Armenian –
author pleading openly for an Armenian membership in the European Union. When writing this
study, the author wanted originally to describe a more or less slow changeover of Armenia
towards the EU, when not only she was surprised by the announcement of the Armenian
Government to join the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union on 3rd September, 2013. This has
already induced furies within Armenian politics and above all civil society, and the result at
present – before the Vilnius Summit of the Eastern Partnership at the end of November 2013 – is
open.
But one thing is for sure: If Armenia would go indeed into the Customs Union and later into the
Eurasian Union, the results, the economic benefits, the neglecting of necessary reforms, the
treatment of matters and of personnel will create a backlash in Armenia (and the EU) which will
be the basis of more solidarity than ever with the legitimate security interests of Armenia,
possibly with the support of the EU. This backlash will endorse a future, new approach towards
the EU.
Ofelya Sargsyan writes why: Armenia is well-anchored in Europe, since almost 2000 years, and
it had more to do with European capitals like Paris, London, Brussels etc. in the 2nd half of the
19th century than people think. Of course, it would be a European border region, but together
with Georgia – which also strives into the EU – it could be just this. The book deals with
geographic, political, economic and cultural reasons, why Armenia should follow a clear foreign
policy towards Europe – which has not at all to collide with special and privileged relations to
Russia.
The impressive history of the country’s relations to the Council of Europe and the EU is well
described, as well as the EU’s perception of its hypothetic move. But also the positions of
Turkey, Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh and Iran as well as of Russia and of course Georgia are
described as those of neighbours interested in the regional integration orientation of Armenia.
The author, belonging otherwise to an “impatient” young generation, knows perfectly, that the
EU membership takes a lot of time, but she pleads – in an outspoken, but never “pushy” way, for
a sustainable change in Armenia’s foreign policy – a change which since more than 20 years of
Armenian independence would not have to be a real change, after all. .