‘Customs Union or European Union? Armenia chose CSTO’

In a choice between the Customs Union and the European Union, Armenia chose the CSTO, Caucasus Institute director, political scientist Alexander Iskandaryan said at a news conference in Yerevan when commenting on Armenia’s decision to join the Customs Union. 

“Of course, Russia can pressure the other countries which are involved in the Vilnius process – Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia – and get certain result. Instruments of pressure upon these countries lay in the economic, financial and communication areas. However, we differ from these countries because we have another format - security. This is very important to us. We should take into account the security factor, which is the CSTO. The Armenian authorities could not but take it into account,” Iskandaryan said.