EU offers Armenia trade lifeline after Russia curbs

BRUSSELS

The European Union on July 2 announced fresh financial and trade support for Armenia, as the Caucasus country reels from what Brussels called Russian “economic coercion” following its pro-Western turn.

Moscow, angered by Yerevan’s pivot away from its traditional ally, slapped bans and restrictions on a range of Armenian imports, including fruit, vegetables, flowers and beverages, ahead of June 7 parliamentary elections.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, speaking in Yerevan alongside Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, said Armenia was “still facing significant economic pressure from Russia, nothing short of economic coercion actually.”

“When pressure mounts on our partners, the European Union steps up,” she said, announcing an additional 80 million euros [$92 million] in assistance to help Armenia “strengthen and diversify” its trade.

Von der Leyen also said the Commission was proposing “autonomous trade measures” that would liberalize nearly 80 percent of Armenian exports to the EU, making them tariff-free.

“With this, we can re-route products that currently still rely heavily on the Russian market and send them to the European Union single market of 450 million consumers,” she said.

The measures would cover almost all Armenian fresh fruits, vegetables and plants previously exported to Russia, and more than 90 percent of its beverages and spirits exports, she added.

“This is only the beginning,” von der Leyen said.

Russia cited unspecified sanitary concerns to justify its import restrictions, but the measures are widely seen as an attempt to pile economic pressure on Pashinyan and push him to reverse course.

Pashinyan’s party won the June election, dealing a blow to Moscow’s influence in the country where it has long maintained a military base and extensive economic leverage.