During yesterday’s EU summit in Brussels the 27 member states of the EU approved the Eastern partnership project aiming at developing closer strategic relations with six post-soviet states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus). The mentioned project’s main objective is the following: “Strengthen stability, effective management and economic development in countries having strategic significance to the EU”. It may provide a free trade regime, economic support and advisory support in defense and security for the countries covered in the mentioned project. The authors of the project don’t exclude the possibility that the EU may ease the visa regime for the countries covered. The EU will provide 600 million Euro for the implementation of this project, which will be officially opened on May 7 in Prague. Certainly this project will open new opportunities for the target countries, including Armenia. However for this purpose the countries covered, as well as Armenia, should comply with a number of requirements and standards. At least one of the mentioned conditions, effective management, anticipates protection of democratic freedoms, which is not done in most of the mentioned countries, including Armenia. On March 31 the PACE will discuss the issue of Armenia’s fulfillment of the responsibilities. It is not excluded that this time the PACE may report improvement too but it will not change the situation in Armenia: many political prisoners are in prisons and definitely they may still be in prisons on April 7 too. What is the reason why the EU is so delicate to Armenia? It is worth mentioning that on May 7 during the summit the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan may have a meeting.
