Armenia not ready yet to join a trade bloc – first human rights defender

YEREVAN, December 4. / ARKA /. Armenia is not yet ready to join a trade bloc, be it the European Union or the Russia-led Customs Union, Armenia’s first human rights defender Larisa Alaverdyan said today.

Ms. Alaverdyan, who is now head of a non-governmental organization called Against Legal Arbitrariness, said to a new conference that she was not enthusiastic about Armenia’s European integration drive and neither shares the latest arguments of the authorities why Armenia should now join the Moscow-led Customs Union.

According to her, before making a decision on accession to this or that bloc Armenia should change the existing administration system.

She said before joining an alliance the Armenian leadership should reconcile its interests with those of the society, which not only often disagree but are opposed to each other. 

Armenia is expected to sign a roadmap to join the Customs Union on December 24.

Larisa Alaverdyan also slammed the authorities for introduction of mandatory funded pension system form 2014 saying it would lower the trust in the government. She said a major concern is that pension savings will be managed by private, not government funds, which is very risky.

According to her, any government move aimed at improving the well-being of Armenian citizens, including pension savings, should be voluntary. -0-