Leaving Brussels for Moscow: Examining External Factors in Yerevan’s Decision to Forgo the 2013 EU-Armenia Association Agreement

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: On September 3rd 2013, President Serzh Sargsyan announced that Armenia would abandon its proposed Association Agreement with the European Union after years of negotiations. In place of this agreement, Armenia would pursue full membership in the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Although this abrupt decision came as a surprise to Armenian political actors and many western observers, this development was the product of years of political maneuvering by Moscow towards Armenia as part of the creation of an alternative model of regional integration within the former Soviet Union. Considering that the European Union and Russia held relative parity with one another as trading partners of Armenia and both Brussels and Moscow held close diplomatic ties with Yerevan this begs the question: what specifically allowed Russia to pry Armenia away from its path of European Integration and secure Yerevan’s membership in the EAEU? In exploring Sargsyan’s decision, this paper will investigate the elements differentiating Russia and Europe’s trading relationship with Armenia, differences between Brussels’ and Moscow’s ability to act as an energy provider to Armenia, and Moscow’s role as a guarantor of security to Yerevan.

DOI	https://doi.org/10.25740/pn800cc0642
Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/pn800cc0642

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Preferred citation: Tomczyk, J. (2022). Leaving Brussels for Moscow: Examining External Factors in Yerevan’s Decision to Forgo the 2013 EU-Armenia Association Agreement. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/pn800cc0642

Masters Theses in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

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