Armenia’s Constitutional Court on November 14 ruled that the treaty on Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union, currently comprised of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan conforms with the country’s Constitution. The next step in accession entails ratification by Armenia’s National Assembly.
On September 4, 2013, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan abruptly announced the decision to join the Eurasian Customs Union (which has now morphed into the Eurasian Economic Union) following a visit to Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This, after almost four years of negotiations with the European Union to sign the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement that was to have been initialed in Vilnius in November 2013. This decision completely derailed Armenia’s foreign policy track, which many were hopeful would have elevated standards in the country and brought them into line with European norms and values.
The rationale for this shift has been the subject of much discussion in Armenia and beyond with the ruling majority claiming the benefits for the economy and that the security and viability of Nagorno Karabakh was a crucial factor in that decision.
If the unresolved status and future security of Nagorno Karabakh was the critical factor in the decision to join the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), then how do we reconcile ourselves with the glaring reality of the sale of billions of dollars worth of arms to Azerbaijan by Russia and statements that the Union is a purely ‘economic’ union and not a political one by President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan? According to an article in the Guardian, the Kazakh President “lobbied hard to get the word ‘economic’ in the title [of the Union].” Nazarbayev has said, “The Union is first and foremost economic and does not touch upon the issues such as independence and political sovereignty of the members of the integration process.”
Whatever the reasons and rationale for this new foreign and economic policy path, the question that remains is what will Armenia gain. By joining the Eurasian Economic Union, which was signed on May 29, 2014 by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus (on October 9, 2014, a treaty to enlarge the EEU to include Armenia was signed), Armenia will potentially have access to an economic market of 170 million people with a gross domestic product of 3 trillion USD. Armenia will have to lift some internal customs barriers and harmonize its trade legislation and regulations in order to comply with the common market of the Union. It remains unclear what the potential economic benefits will be. It is expected that the Union will go into effect in January, 2015.
Putting economic benefits or disadvantages aside, when a country decides to join a treaty, or a group of nations with common markets or values, the hope is that it would enhance the country’s potential. A quick purview of global indices on press freedoms, democracy, corruption and rule of law place European countries as leaders in those spheres while Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus lag far behind. In those indices, Armenia fares better than all three of the EEU countries. If Armenia’s parliament ratifies the accession treaty, which it will most likely do, it will mean that as a state we have opted to join a group of nations who do not place these values high on their national agendas.
The World Press Freedom Index 2014 published by Reporters Without Borders measures the level of freedom of information in 180 countries. It looks at the degree of freedom that journalists and news organizations enjoy and how this is respected by their respective governments. The Index looks at six general criteria – pluralism, media independence, environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, and infrastructure – and gives a score between 0 and 100. In this index Armenia was well ahead of the three countries of the EEU. Armenia ranked 78th, while Russia ranked 148th, Belarus 157th and Kazakhstan 161st. Not surprisingly, European countries lead the list in press freedoms – Finland, Netherland, Norway, Luxembourg and Andorra.
The Democracy Index, compiled by the Economic Intelligence Unit, measures the state of democracy in 167 countries. The Index is based on 60 indicators grouped into five categories – electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, functioning of a government, political participation and political culture. The Index also categorizes countries as one of four regime types – full democracies, flawed democracies, hybrid democracies and authoritarian regimes. Once again, while presenting with a dismal score and categorized as a hybrid democracy, Armenia leads the countries of the EEU, who are all considered to have authoritarian regimes: out of 167 countries, Armenia is ranked 116th, Russia is ranked at 125th, Kazakhstan 140th and Belarus 142nd. The countries leading the Democracy Index are Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and New Zealand.
The Corruption Perceptions Index, compiled by Transparency International measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption in 177 countries and territories. Once again, Armenia while continuing to battle corruption on every level, is ahead of the EEU countries: Armenia is ranked 94th, while Belarus is ranked 123rd, Russia comes in at 127th and Kazakhstan is a dismal 140th. The countries that were ranked as having the lowest perceived levels of corruption were Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
While Armenia is not included in the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index 2014, the three countries of the EEU present with dismal rankings. The Index measures how rule of law is experienced in everyday life in 99 countries around the world. Adherence to the rule of law is assessed using 47 indicators around eight themes – constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice. Out of 99 countries, Belarus is ranked 50th and out of 13 countries in the region is ranked 4/13; Kazakhstan is ranked 71st in the world and its regional rank is 9/13; Russia is ranked 80th in the world and ranked last in the region, 13/13. Once again, Europe leads in rule of law. The top five countries are Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands.
Four global indices, four global trends for press freedoms, democratic development, corruption and rule of law. Europe is ahead of the game while the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union lag far behind.
