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Aravot, Armenia
Nov 28 2012
Two interviews, unanswered questions. Uncertainty in Armenian-Russian
relations persists?
[Translated from Armenian]
by Emma Gabrielyan
After the Armenian press reported that [Armenian President] Serzh
Sargsyan went to Moscow following his visit to France, it is clear
that political circles have been interested in whether Moscow will
support Sargsyan in the coming [2013] presidential election, or the
Russian Federation considers another candidate to serve its interests.
"Nothing clear" in Armenian-Russian
It was possible to predict after Sargsyan's return that there would be
some messages, which would allow having an understanding of what the
Russian authorities demanded from Sargsyan, whether problems would be
resolved and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would eventually
visit Armenia (which could be perceived as a proof of support for
Serzh Sargsyan ahead of the presidential election).
There has already been talk regarding Putin's visit for months, but
nothing is clear.
A number of noteworthy events have followed the return of Serzh
Sargsyan, which cast light on Russia's attitude towards Armenia in the
period ahead of the election and on what it expects from the Armenian
authorities.
At first, on 23 November, Sargsyan received the heads of a number of
Russian mass media outlets, who arrived in Armenia to attend "At the
Slope of Mount Ararat" media forum. During the meeting, Sargsyan spoke
about Armenia's foreign policy, regional challenges, dynamically
developing Armenian-Russian relations, and the economic and investment
environment in our country.
It is noteworthy that no such meetings are held and no press
conferences are convened with Armenian mass media representatives.
Armenian-Russian relations "not built on interests alone"
On 26 November, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan gave two
interviews to two Russian mass media outlets - the Interfax news
agency and the Izvestiya newspaper.
In his interview to Interfax, Tigran Sargsyan covered a large range of
issues - from Armenian-Russian ties to consequences of sanctions
against Iran and the crisis in Syria.
However, let us elaborate on a few of those topics.
Speaking about priority joint projects in bilateral relations and
serious problems in the field of bilateral cooperation, the prime
minister said: "Strategic partnership relations imply that such
cooperation relies not on the concept of interests, but on the concept
of common values. That is our common vision of the common past and
common future.
If strategic partnership relations were built only on interests, they
could hardly be called strategic. Relations between Armenia and Russia
are obviously not built on interests alone. At present, very rigorous
events are taking place in the world. The world is changing quickly
and interconnection between countries is growing.
The humankind faces new challenges and new risks. This means that we
should take into account new challenges and realities and search for a
way to build our joint future together. This means that neither we nor
our Russian partners have unambiguous answers at the moment. We are in
search, so this should be done jointly. In such a case, we are to find
solutions and we will be responsible for our correct and wrong
decisions".
Armenian-Russian economic relations
Responding to the question on the price of [Russian] gas [supplied to
Armenia], Tigran Sargsyan avoided giving a concrete answer on the
authenticity of reports that Russia's proposal is to raise the price
per 1,000 cubic metres of gas to 330 dollars.
Answering the question on Yerevan's position on the Customs Union and
the Eurasian Union, and Armenia's considering the possibility of
joining these structures, Tigran Sargsyan said: "Armenia announced
that it is interested in integration processes in the framework of the
CIS and EurAsEC [Eurasian Economic Community]. This issue was voiced
at the last meeting of the presidents of our countries and Vladimir
Putin noted very precisely that there is a specific thing in Armenia -
there are no direct borders with EurAsEC and the Customs Union.
There is no precedent in international practice, when a country that
does not have common borders joined a customs union. For this very
reason, a working group has been established based on instructions
from the presidents. On our side, it is headed by the minister of
economy and on the Russian side, a respective minister has been
appointed. The working group will develop measures, which will make it
possible to boost integration processes, taking into account those
peculiarities".
Tigran Sargsyan attached great importance to the opening of
Georgian-Abkhaz section of the railroad, which, he said, implies
railway freight traffic to Russia and back via Georgia. "This will
significantly improve transport logistics and will reduce costs for
importers and exporters," Sargsyan said.
PM critical of Russia's immigration programme, neutral on Customs Union
In his interview to Izvestiya, the Armenian prime minister criticised
even the Compatriots programme implemented by Russian migration
services.
"There is a demographic problem [in Armenia] even without that. The
outflow of population especially from border areas will damage
Armenia's interests. For this very reason, our strategic ally must not
resort to measures which damage our interests. We clearly expressed
our explicit and unambiguous point of view in all protocols," he said.
At the same time, Tigran Sargsyan positively assessed our running
projects under Russia's umbrella: "We are interested in integration
processes under way in the frameworks of the EurAsEC and CIS," he
said.
Izvestiya tried to clarify the prime minister's attitude towards the
Customs Union operating in the CIS. "Armenia has one peculiarity: Our
country has no common border with the Customs Union. For this very
reason, it is necessary to develop mechanisms of cooperation," Tigran
Sargsyan said and continued:" I believe that the Customs Union is very
close to a common currency zone by its nature. It is only necessary to
have a coordinated budget and monetary policy for five continuous
years. I believe all of them - Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus - will
benefit from that.
Sargsyan said both economic entities and citizens would benefit from
the common currency. "What is the sense in maintaining a national
currency and losing money on transfers," he said, not specifying
whether the idea was acceptable for the Armenian authorities or not.
Some problems in Armenian-Russian relations "remain unanswered"
As for Armenia-EU cooperation, Tigran Sargsyan emphasised that the
Armenian leadership had a clear understanding regarding further steps:
"At present, our priority regarding the EU is to sign an agreement on
comprehensive free trade zone. We want to sign this agreement in 2013,
although our European partners believe that this will be possible only
in 2014".
Thus, although Tigran Sargsyan told Russian mass media outlets again
that Armenia had no problems with Russia, the tone of the prime
minister's two interviews raises many new questions, because it
provides answers to questions in Armenian-Russian relations.
On one hand, the Armenian authorities seem to be obliged to pay
attention to the Russian media to dispell existing doubts.
However, on the other hand, it is obvious that questions touched on in
the framework of the interviews remain unanswered.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Nov 28 2012
Two interviews, unanswered questions. Uncertainty in Armenian-Russian
relations persists?
[Translated from Armenian]
by Emma Gabrielyan
After the Armenian press reported that [Armenian President] Serzh
Sargsyan went to Moscow following his visit to France, it is clear
that political circles have been interested in whether Moscow will
support Sargsyan in the coming [2013] presidential election, or the
Russian Federation considers another candidate to serve its interests.
"Nothing clear" in Armenian-Russian
It was possible to predict after Sargsyan's return that there would be
some messages, which would allow having an understanding of what the
Russian authorities demanded from Sargsyan, whether problems would be
resolved and whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would eventually
visit Armenia (which could be perceived as a proof of support for
Serzh Sargsyan ahead of the presidential election).
There has already been talk regarding Putin's visit for months, but
nothing is clear.
A number of noteworthy events have followed the return of Serzh
Sargsyan, which cast light on Russia's attitude towards Armenia in the
period ahead of the election and on what it expects from the Armenian
authorities.
At first, on 23 November, Sargsyan received the heads of a number of
Russian mass media outlets, who arrived in Armenia to attend "At the
Slope of Mount Ararat" media forum. During the meeting, Sargsyan spoke
about Armenia's foreign policy, regional challenges, dynamically
developing Armenian-Russian relations, and the economic and investment
environment in our country.
It is noteworthy that no such meetings are held and no press
conferences are convened with Armenian mass media representatives.
Armenian-Russian relations "not built on interests alone"
On 26 November, Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan gave two
interviews to two Russian mass media outlets - the Interfax news
agency and the Izvestiya newspaper.
In his interview to Interfax, Tigran Sargsyan covered a large range of
issues - from Armenian-Russian ties to consequences of sanctions
against Iran and the crisis in Syria.
However, let us elaborate on a few of those topics.
Speaking about priority joint projects in bilateral relations and
serious problems in the field of bilateral cooperation, the prime
minister said: "Strategic partnership relations imply that such
cooperation relies not on the concept of interests, but on the concept
of common values. That is our common vision of the common past and
common future.
If strategic partnership relations were built only on interests, they
could hardly be called strategic. Relations between Armenia and Russia
are obviously not built on interests alone. At present, very rigorous
events are taking place in the world. The world is changing quickly
and interconnection between countries is growing.
The humankind faces new challenges and new risks. This means that we
should take into account new challenges and realities and search for a
way to build our joint future together. This means that neither we nor
our Russian partners have unambiguous answers at the moment. We are in
search, so this should be done jointly. In such a case, we are to find
solutions and we will be responsible for our correct and wrong
decisions".
Armenian-Russian economic relations
Responding to the question on the price of [Russian] gas [supplied to
Armenia], Tigran Sargsyan avoided giving a concrete answer on the
authenticity of reports that Russia's proposal is to raise the price
per 1,000 cubic metres of gas to 330 dollars.
Answering the question on Yerevan's position on the Customs Union and
the Eurasian Union, and Armenia's considering the possibility of
joining these structures, Tigran Sargsyan said: "Armenia announced
that it is interested in integration processes in the framework of the
CIS and EurAsEC [Eurasian Economic Community]. This issue was voiced
at the last meeting of the presidents of our countries and Vladimir
Putin noted very precisely that there is a specific thing in Armenia -
there are no direct borders with EurAsEC and the Customs Union.
There is no precedent in international practice, when a country that
does not have common borders joined a customs union. For this very
reason, a working group has been established based on instructions
from the presidents. On our side, it is headed by the minister of
economy and on the Russian side, a respective minister has been
appointed. The working group will develop measures, which will make it
possible to boost integration processes, taking into account those
peculiarities".
Tigran Sargsyan attached great importance to the opening of
Georgian-Abkhaz section of the railroad, which, he said, implies
railway freight traffic to Russia and back via Georgia. "This will
significantly improve transport logistics and will reduce costs for
importers and exporters," Sargsyan said.
PM critical of Russia's immigration programme, neutral on Customs Union
In his interview to Izvestiya, the Armenian prime minister criticised
even the Compatriots programme implemented by Russian migration
services.
"There is a demographic problem [in Armenia] even without that. The
outflow of population especially from border areas will damage
Armenia's interests. For this very reason, our strategic ally must not
resort to measures which damage our interests. We clearly expressed
our explicit and unambiguous point of view in all protocols," he said.
At the same time, Tigran Sargsyan positively assessed our running
projects under Russia's umbrella: "We are interested in integration
processes under way in the frameworks of the EurAsEC and CIS," he
said.
Izvestiya tried to clarify the prime minister's attitude towards the
Customs Union operating in the CIS. "Armenia has one peculiarity: Our
country has no common border with the Customs Union. For this very
reason, it is necessary to develop mechanisms of cooperation," Tigran
Sargsyan said and continued:" I believe that the Customs Union is very
close to a common currency zone by its nature. It is only necessary to
have a coordinated budget and monetary policy for five continuous
years. I believe all of them - Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus - will
benefit from that.
Sargsyan said both economic entities and citizens would benefit from
the common currency. "What is the sense in maintaining a national
currency and losing money on transfers," he said, not specifying
whether the idea was acceptable for the Armenian authorities or not.
Some problems in Armenian-Russian relations "remain unanswered"
As for Armenia-EU cooperation, Tigran Sargsyan emphasised that the
Armenian leadership had a clear understanding regarding further steps:
"At present, our priority regarding the EU is to sign an agreement on
comprehensive free trade zone. We want to sign this agreement in 2013,
although our European partners believe that this will be possible only
in 2014".
Thus, although Tigran Sargsyan told Russian mass media outlets again
that Armenia had no problems with Russia, the tone of the prime
minister's two interviews raises many new questions, because it
provides answers to questions in Armenian-Russian relations.
On one hand, the Armenian authorities seem to be obliged to pay
attention to the Russian media to dispell existing doubts.
However, on the other hand, it is obvious that questions touched on in
the framework of the interviews remain unanswered.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress