Prime Minister Karen Karapetian has reportedly objected to Russia’s controversial decision to stop recognizing the validity of driving licenses issued by Armenia at a meeting with his counterparts from other Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) member states.
A Russian law which took effect on June 1 banned foreign nationals with driving licenses issued by their home countries from working as drivers in Russia. The Russian parliament subsequently waived the restriction for citizens of those countries, including EEU members Kyrgyzstan and Belarus, where the Russian language has an official legal status.
Armenia is not one of those countries, meaning that a large number of its migrant workers driving trucks, taxis and other vehicles in Russia now risk losing their jobs. The Armenian parliament speaker, Ara Babloyan, discussed the matter with his Russian counterpart, Vyacheslav Volodin, when they met in Moscow in July.
Volodin suggested that Armenia adopt Russian as its second official language in order to circumvent the ban. Volodin’s remark caused outrage in Yerevan, with local opposition politicians, media commentators and intellectuals accusing Moscow of meddling in Armenia’s internal affairs.
According to Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Bakitzhan Sagintayev, Karapetian raised the issue at Monday’s meeting in Astana of the prime ministers of the five EEU member states, including Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev. Sagintayev reportedly hinted that Moscow will address Yerevan’s concerns.
A statement released by the Armenian government listed “mutual recognition of national and international driving licenses” among issues on the agenda of the Astana meeting. It did not elaborate.
Medvedev also held separate talks with Karapetian in the Kazakh capital. The Armenian premier said at the meeting that Medvedev will visit Yerevan later this year.