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President Sargsyan Reaffirms Armenia's Disposition In Brussels

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  • President Sargsyan Reaffirms Armenia's Disposition In Brussels

    PRESIDENT SARGSYAN REAFFIRMS ARMENIA'S DISPOSITION IN BRUSSELS

    Panorama.am
    12:47 31/05/2010

    Comments

    Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan traveled to the Belgian capital of
    Brussels on a working visit May 25-27. The full agenda of Presidents'
    visit and the numerous meetings did not provide opportunity to analyze
    President Serzh Sargsyan's discussions and statements duly.

    Before referring to the President's visit, we find it necessary to
    speak about the significance of the Belgian capital. This is necessary
    for profound comprehension of the full spectrum of President Sargsyan's
    meetings.

    Thus, besides being the capital of Belgium, Brussels is also the
    headquarters and capital of NATO and the EU. This modest city of
    European standards has deserved this status as it is situated
    in the crossline of the European civilizations - Romance and
    Germanic. Having inherited the rich historical traditions of both of
    them today Brussels has turned to one of the symbols of the united
    Europe. In the meanwhile, note that in terms of this the main "rival"
    of Brussels is the other Franco-Germanic city - Strasbourg, which is
    also associated with the European unity.

    President's agenda in Brussels

    Naturally, during his Brussels visit, President's meetings with the
    leadership of NATO, EU and Belgium, as well as the traditional meetings
    with the representatives of the Armenian community were scheduled. On
    May 25, President met with the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh
    Rasmussen. On the same day President Sargsyan had a working dinner
    with the President of the European People's Party Wilfried Martens,
    in the evening he met with the representatives of the Armenian
    communities of Belgium and the Netherlands.

    The second day of President's visit was even fuller. On May 26 Serzh
    Sargsyan met with Karel De Gucht, European Commissioner for Trade.

    Later the Armenian President met with the President of the Belgian
    Senate Armand de Decker, as well as the President of the European
    Commission Jose Manuel Barroso.

    Afterwards, President Sargsyan had meetings with two members of the
    European Commission - European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary
    Affairs Olli Rehn and Commissioner for Enlargement and European
    Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fule. On the same day President visited
    "Villa Ampen" center, founded by the Pogosian Foundation.

    The following day, May 27, the President had meetings with the
    High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
    Policy Catherine Ashton, and the President of the EU Council Herman
    Van Rompuy.

    Besides the meetings, during his Brussels visit Serzh Sargsyan had
    joint press conferences with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Jose Manuel
    Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy.

    During his visit to "Villa Ampen", President Sargsyan delivered a
    welcome speech.

    Among a number of issues, President's discussions and statements
    mainly focused on Armenia-Turkey normalization and Nagorno-Karabakh
    settlement processes.

    Armenia - West

    Armenia-West formula is strictly conditional. Though NATO and EU
    headquarters are situated in Brussels and the members of the latter
    are mostly represented in the former one, currently Armenia-NATO,
    Armenia-EU interrelations are lying on quite different platforms and
    have quite different missions.

    In terms of NATO, the stress lies on the military-political sphere,
    while the EU focuses on the economic one. However, in both Armenia-NATO
    and Armenia-EU relations there is one significant component: support
    to democratic governance and institutional reforms, humanitarian and
    value spheres.

    All these issues as well as the ways of their further progress were
    discussed during President's meetings. During his meeting with Anders
    Fogh Rasmussen both the implementation of the Private Partnership
    Action Plan and the joint military drills and Armenia's extended
    participation in NATO international peacekeeping activities were
    estimated as successful.

    Highlighting the efficiency of the NATO-backed reforms implemented in
    the RA Armed Forces, President Sargsyan said Armenia is committed to
    continue collaboration with NATO allies and partner states in all the
    spheres the agenda includes: combat against international terrorism,
    protection of borders, peacekeeping mission.

    Issues related to the relations with the EU were more actively raised.

    The discussions with the European Commission representatives focused
    on a wide frame of cooperation issues: signing a free trade agreement
    with the EU, security in the South Caucasus, EU Neighborhood Policy
    and Euro-integration issues.

    To sum up, we would recall a part from President Sargsyan's statement
    at a joint press conference with Herman Van Rompuy.

    "The promotion of Armenia-EU high-level political dialogue is a
    speaking evidence of the existing common value system. Armenia-EU
    relations are at a dynamically developing stage. EU is of special
    significance to Armenia not only as an important role-player in the
    international field but as a side that renders multifaceted assistance
    to the implementation of reforms in different spheres of social life
    in our country."

    Armenia not principally against Turkey's Euro-integration

    It was beyond doubt the Armenian-Turkish normalization process would
    be raised during President's Brussels meetings. First, here Europe's
    stance towards the close borders goes with all the consequences coming:
    support and mediation in the process, etc.

    Second, this is the EU-Turkey relations platform. In terms of this,
    Armenia-Turkey relations are both a kind of indicator for Europe
    (to check Turkey's level of being-civilized) and a whip (to make
    pressure o Turkey if needed).

    Therefore, it shouldn't seem accidental that Europeans kept the issue
    in focus during the meetings with the Armenian officials.

    As to President Serzh Sargsyan, this was his first visit to the
    West following his April 22 address over suspension of ratification
    process of Armenia-Turkey protocols and even though the West had
    hailed President's decision, it was necessary to reaffirm Armenia's
    disposition and give clarifications to the European officials over the
    causes. As the received response shows, President Sargsyan succeeded
    in doing this.

    "Turkey has left no other choice for us but freeze the ratification
    process of the protocols. We have presented our comments over
    the issue, though, even this hasn't made Turkey move forward,"
    President Sargsyan said in Brussels, highlighting that by putting
    forth preconditions and breaking the agreed terms, Turkey has spent
    its stock of being a reliable negotiating partner.

    European officials hailed Armenia's disposition and President's
    decision as despite the existing hurdles, he has not closed the door
    for continuation of the dialogue.

    The most important scene over Armenia-Turkey process, in which
    Europeans also showed great interest, however, found place in Serzh
    Sargsyan's answer over Armenia's attitude to Turkey's EU membership
    attempts.

    "Armenia would be only glad if Turkey could meet all the standards for
    EU membership as this will mean we deal with another, more reliable
    and stable country with values very close to us," S. Sargsyan said.

    Thus, the President stated that:

    a) Today's Turkey is an unstable country and unreliable partner

    b) Turkey can meet EU standards only if it acquires the mentioned
    qualities and these should be expressed through the commitment to
    fulfill agreements reached with Armenia.

    Another point of the statement made at the presence of the EU President
    is that Armenia is not principally against Turkey's EU membership.

    Nagorno-Karabakh settlement format cannot be changed

    Karabakh issue was the major focus of President's Brussels statements,
    one of the highlights being the way and format of the settlement of
    the conflict.

    President Sargsyan said and all his interlocutors agreed that the
    dispute should be solved through peaceful talks (note that China's
    MFA also reaffirmed the same disposition last week).

    "The OSCE Minsk Group has conducted and should continue to conduct
    Nagorno-Karabakh negotiating process," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

    Jose Manuel Barroso, in turn, added:

    "We are ready to continue supporting the Minsk Group-mediated process
    in the future as well."

    President Serzh Sargsyan highlighted at a joint press conference with
    Jose Manuel Barroso:

    "Armenia thinks, there is serious work to be done in the negotiating
    process conducted in the frames of the Minsk Group. This requires
    from the sides will, commitment to give full solution to the issue
    and ability to find solutions.

    Armenia doesn't think that staging performances on separate scenes
    of the issue worldwide, while leaving aside the real workstyle and
    format, should be seen as a concern over the solution of the conflict."

    What the statement says is:

    a) Armenia sees no alternative to the currently adopted format for
    the settlement of the conflict.

    b) Any attempt to change or break the format is seen as a
    manifestation of evading form responsibility, extracting the process
    and deconstructive attitude.

    c) It's still early to speak about the urgent solution of the conflict
    within the framework of Minsk Group process as there is still much
    do be done.

    As far as Turkey's attempts to mediate the process and Azerbaijan's
    demands are concerned, the President's statement can be regarded as
    a kind of strict caution:

    "Armenia doesn't think that new mediator can help the process,
    moreover, it finds that thus, Turkey not only doesn't help Azerbaijan
    but day by day decreases any perspective for its constructive role
    in the region."

    It's impossible to eliminate the consequence without referring to
    the causes

    Another point over Nagorno-Karabakh settlement was reaffirmation of
    Armenia's disposition on the model of the solution of the issue.

    "We want to once again stress that we were imposed Karabakh war. And
    the current situation is a result of a failed attempt to annihilate
    Karabakhi people. The consequences are impossible to eliminate unless
    the self-determination of Karabakhi people is solved. The main focus
    of the issue is the opportunity for the realization of the right
    to self-determination of Karabakhi people," the President said in
    Brussels.

    Thus, Serzh Sargsyan actually showed that the Armenian side does not
    at all disregard the problems the conflict brought, including the
    humanitarian ones (which the Europeans are particularly concerned
    about).

    President also indicated that without elimination of the causes bearing
    these consequences, there would be no real opportunities to eliminate
    the latter.

    Armenia has many times said and reaffirmed that the consequences of
    the conflict come from the ethnic cleansings and the use of aggression
    against Artsakh carried out by Azerbaijan. As it is known, Azerbaijan
    continues the same workstyle both on official and propaganda level.

    This means under the current conditions by conserving the causes
    and eliminating the consequences, prerequisites for even bigger
    consequences will emerge.

    Thus, the Armenian side finds that the consequences of the conflict
    can be referred to only after:

    a) Azerbaijan recognizes the right to self-determination of Karabakhi
    people,

    b) Nagorno-Karabakh people are given clear security guarantees.

    Principally, this is what the President's abovementioned statement
    said and it's remarkable that European officials understood him,
    as it can be seen in Jose Barroso's statement.

    "Peaceful settlement should include all the main elements: the
    right of the return of those evicted, property right, right to
    self-determination, as well as guarantee of security and withdrawal
    of forces."

    No alternative to elections in Artsakh

    Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentary elections were also raised during the
    Brussels meetings. Azerbaijan had again raised propaganda hysteria
    over the issue making different representatives of the international
    community voice statement on non-recognition of the elections.

    At the initial stage Baku, of course, managed to obtain some remarks
    to carry out the propaganda. However, President Sargsyan prevented
    the attempts during his Brussels visit.

    "For many years Nagorno-Karabakh has been forming legitimate
    power through elections. Naturally, during these years different
    institutions, including the EU, announced that they don't recognize
    the elections, which, of course, sounds odd to us, though, we are
    trying to understand the causes," president Sargsyan said.

    "We are sure there is no alternative to the elections. The only
    alternative is that Karabakh be ruled by field commanders or other
    forces, and we are against it. So, we consider it quite normal that
    Nagorno-Karabakhi people can hold transparent, democratic elections."

    It's hard to say whether the persons having spread pro-Azerbaijani
    statements can say anything to contradict this argument. Actually,
    this is why all the European officials expressed satisfaction after
    meeting with President Sargsyan and raising the issue, noting that they
    are not intent to interfere and the only thing they can do is support
    the negotiations conducted in the frames of the OSCE Minsk Group.

    President Sargsyan touched upon another aspect: "Armenia thinks
    that the negotiating process could enter a new stage through NKR
    participation in it. Moreover, Nagorno-Karabakh parliamentary elections
    held last Sunday and the comments of the international observers once
    again proved that during this time Nagorno-Karabakh people were able
    to establish full-fledged democracy in the country, which can develop
    civilized relations with all its neighbors."

    Thus, Serzh Sargsyan highlighted that the conflict may be settled
    only in case of Karabakh participation and agreement while the will
    of Karabakhi people may be expressed only through the authorities
    they have elected.

    At the same time, the President drew attention that election processes
    in Karabakh are more democratic and advanced than in some neighbor
    states, including Azerbaijan, and this was stated by a great many
    international observers.

    And what is the alternative?

    As said above, neither Armenia, nor the international community sees
    any alternative to the peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

    However, this does not mean at all that Azerbaijani authorities
    spreading bellicose statements will not choose adventure (at least
    to deepen own authoritarian regime or distract the public attention
    to reproduce some) and the military activities will not resume.

    Today this is a less probable, but quite possible script.

    So, how should the Armenian side react?

    Actually, the answer is known and once Azerbaijan has already received
    response for its aggressive behavior. There is no doubt, the second
    attempt will have similar ending.

    Though, note that during President Sargsyan's Brussels visit,
    Azerbaijan's militant stance met some practical counter effect.

    First, Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced at a joint press conference
    with the Armenian Prresident that NATO is not intent and is not
    going to interfere with any military activities in the region of
    the South Caucasus. Second, President Serzh Sargsyan highlighted in
    his statement made at NATO headquarters that persons and countries
    voicing willingness and self-confidence over settling conflicts in
    the South Caucasus through arms, are just at a loss.

    "The Armenian army has the victorious army model. It is an army
    capable of combat. An army that is well organized as an institution.

    And it's ready to accomplish any task given to it. The Armenian army
    has types of ammunition that countries ten times the size of Armenia
    would dream of having. The professional capacity of our officers
    is well known to our colleagues in the West and in the East when we
    engage in joint operations or drills.

    Our army was born and baptized in the battlefield and the core of the
    Armenian officers, top officers, led by the Minister and the Army Chief
    of Staff, have a wealth of experience of warfare and it's a positive
    experience, a successful experience. With all of this our army is an
    army that is under democratic control, that operates transparency.

    It's an army that cooperates with NATO, yes, and it's an army that
    cooperates with the Collective Security Treaty Organization member
    states, Armed Forces. Let me reiterate, it's an army that is ready
    to accomplish any task.

    We're proud of our army. But on the other hand we dream of the day
    when in our region there will not be huge or oversized armies relative
    to the capacity of our states," he said.

    Azerbaijani got interested in (or let's even say terrified by) the
    President's remark on different types of ammunition. We will refer
    to the remark shortly.




    From: A. Papazian
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