Armenia realizes the necessity of leaving Russian economic zone of influence - Speaker of Finnish Parliament

YEREVAN, January 24. /ARKA/. Armenia has a clear will to withdraw from Russia's economic and military zone of influence, Finnish Parliament Speaker Jussi Halla-aho said on Thursday.
“In doing so, Armenia will have to do its part of the work, and we, in turn, will do our best on our part,” he said during a press briefing after a panel discussion on “Together for Peace and Democracy” with the participation of the heads of parliaments of the Baltic and Nordic countries in Yerevan.
Armenia's vulnerability to Russia, in his opinion, should be reduced, ‘especially if we take into account the fact that Armenia wants to become a member of the EU.’
“Armenia should reduce its energy dependence on Russia and the Russian market. However, as our Armenian colleagues told us, it is hard to stop trade with Russia if there are no alternatives. There are two processes - integration into European markets and European structures on the one hand, and reducing dependence on Russia on the other hand. These two processes should take place in parallel. I can guarantee: we will do everything to support you on this path, to implement reforms, to reduce dependence on Russia,” emphasized the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament.
In his turn, Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan said that Armenia does not have a common border with the EU, but it does not have one with Russia either.
“Nevertheless, this did not prevent Russia from putting pressure on Armenia's then leadership to have the latter join the Moscow-dominated economic union,” he said.
According to Simonyan, food security and economic interdependence are among the decisive components in Armenian-Russian relations, but it is not about that, but about the value system.
“It's a matter of our choice. We can have an authoritarian country with no elections, no rights and free media. And we can have a country that has its challenges, but it is free and has a high level of democracy. We have already made that choice in our mind and in future, if necessary, we will confirm it once again by holding elections or a general referendum,” the Parliament Speaker stressed.
On January 9, the Armenian Government approved a bill on the accession of Armenia, a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, to the EU, proposed by the Platform of Democratic Forces civic initiative. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan noted that Armenia can become a member of the EU only if the people approve this initiative in a referendum. He pointed out the necessity to discuss and develop a joint “road map” with the EU. Earlier he also stated that Armenia is ready to get as close to the EU as the EU wants.