Sargsyan signs plan of action for integration of Armenia into Customs Union

The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan has signed a declaration on a plan of action for integrating Armenia into the Customs Union and Common Economic Area of the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan and Russian Federation.

A statement by Sargsyan's office stated that the declaration outlines the support of Armenia and the three existing members of the Customs Union, to deepening integration processes between Armenia and the Customs Union and Common Economic Area member states, as well as acknowledging the necessity to further develop mutually beneficial economic cooperation between Armenia and the Customs Union and Common Economic Area member states,as well as supporting the intent of the Republic of Armenia to become a full member of the Common Economic Area.

The signing took place at the end of a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council attended by President Putin of Russia, President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan and President Lushenka of Belarus which took place in Moscow on 24 December.

At the end of the meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he expected that the work for the setting up of the Eurasian Economic Union will be concluded in 2014 and that the Union will start working in 2015.

source: commonspace.eu with agencies

photo: President Sargsyan signing a declaration on Armenia's accession into the Customs Union and the Eurasian Economic Union in Moscow on 24 December 2013. (picture courtesy of the Press Office of the President of the Republic of Armenia)

 

Related articles

Editor's choice
News
Despite crisis, Lebanon takes the lead to become first country in the Middle East to abolish the death penalty

Despite crisis, Lebanon takes the lead to become first country in the Middle East to abolish the death penalty

Lebanon's parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty, a move that would make it the first country in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment. A majority of MPs in the 128-seat parliament backed the measure on Tuesday (11 August), while Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc voted against it. The legislation will now go to the cabinet before being passed to President Joseph Aoun for signing. The government has already expressed its support for the measure. Lebanon has not carried out an execution since January 2004, although courts have continued to hand down death sentences. Rights groups estimate that more than 78 people remain on death row. Under the new legislation, capital punishment will be replaced with life imprisonment with hard labour. However, the legislation does not yet set out in detail how the new sentence would be enforced. Hard labour is already written into Lebanese law but has rarely been implemented in recent years. The country's financial crisis and overcrowded prisons have limited the authorities' resources and capacity. The latest legislation follows years of campaigning by civil society groups and lawyers for the removal of capital punishment from Lebanese law. (click image to read more)

Popular

Editor's choice
Interview
Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)