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ArmenGrigoryan
unlikethethreefoundingmembers,andsuchanunequalarrangementwould
remaininplaceuntilFebruary2016,whenthenewcommissionwouldbe
formed.Ontheotherhand,speedingupaccessionwasriskyastherewere
severaldebatableissues.Forinstance,thenegotiationsonalistofexemptions
fromtheCustomsUnion’simporttariffswerefarfrombeingfinalised.As
theCustomsUnion’stariffsforabout60%ofgoodswouldbehigherthan
Armeniantariffrates,thegovernmentsetagoaltogetexemptionsfor850of
about11,500sortsofimportedgoods.10
YetSargsyan’sinitialattempttosigntheEEUestablishmenttreatyduring
thesummitoftheSupremeEurasianEconomicCouncilinAstanaon29May
2014wasnotsuccessful,anditturnedoutthatthetariffrateswerenotthe
mostcontroversialissue.SargsyanandEduardNalbandyan,ministerof
foreignaffairs,foundthemselvesinthemidstofanembarrassingsituationas
Kazakhstan’sPresidentNursultanNazarbayevannouncedduringatelevised
sessionthathisAzerbaijanicounterpart,IlhamAliyev,hadsentaletter“tothe
threeofus,”himself,PutinandLukashenka,requiringthatArmeniashould
beadmittedtotheunioninaccordancewithitsinternationallyrecognised
borders.Withsuchaconditionsetatthelastmoment,andbeingunprepared
todealwithanissuethatisespeciallysensitiveinArmenianpolitics,
Sargsyanwasunabletosignthetreatyasthatcouldresultinademandto
establishcustomscontrolpostsbetweenArmeniaandNagorno-Karabakh.
Thus,Armeniapostponedsigningthetreaty,firstuntilJuly,andthenuntil
10October2014.
BeforetheSupremeEurasianEconomicCouncilsummiton10October,
someofficialsfromEEUmemberstatesstatedthatsomecompromiseon
theissueofcustomscontrolbetweenArmeniaandNagorno-Karabakhhad
beenreached.Therefore,SargsyancouldfinallysignthetreatyonArmenia’s
accessiontotheunion.However,thenatureofthesuggestedcompromise
wasnotrevealedatthattime,andafterwardsArmeniangovernment
representativeskeptsilentontheissue.However,whenthetreatywas
presentedtotheBelarusianparliamentforratification,thatcountry’sdeputy
ministerofforeignaffairs,AlexanderMikhnevich,revealedthatYerevanhad
10
S.Gevorgyan,“TheCostoftheCustomsUnion:AfterJoining,ConsumerPricesAre
ExpectedtoRise,”ArmeniaNow,31January2014,www.armenianow.com.
12
ThePolishQuarterlyofInternationalAffairs,2015,no.4