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NATO WEEK: ARMENIA DISCUSSES CLOSER PARTNERSHIP WITH WESTERN ALLIANCE UNDER MOSCOW'S CLOSE WATCH
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow
06.11.12 | 10:27
Armenia and NATO have again exchanged their "partnership" credentials
this week as events dedicated to their deepening ties were launched
in Yerevan on Monday.
Speaking at a seminar held as part of the NATO Week events in the
Armenian capital, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative
for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai described Armenia
as an important partner for the military alliance. He especially
noted Armenia's considerable contribution to the ISAF operation
in Afghanistan.
Appathurai, who was scheduled to meet with senior government officials
in Yerevan, said NATO was seeking a deeper involvement in the South
Caucasus and would like to step up its cooperation with Armenia. He
said the alliance leadership was now considering ways of gaining a
"stronger foothold" in the volatile region.
"But, of course, we don't want to impose ourselves. We just want
to offer more opportunities for cooperation. And if countries like
Armenia but also Georgia and Azerbaijan wish to take this offer, we
will have more to do, more on the menu in the coming months and years,"
the official said in an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian service.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also spoke of
potentialities for developing further partnership with Armenia
as he visited Yerevan in September. He insisted that there is "no
contradiction" between Armenia's military alliance with Russia and
closer ties with NATO - a stance shared by the leadership of Armenia,
a member of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization
that hosts the only Russian military base in the South Caucasus.
Pro-establishment politicians and analysts in Armenia have also tried
to present the nation's growing ties with NATO and generally with the
West (including negotiations on deeper ties with the European Union)
as part of a comprehensive foreign policy agenda that does not involve
any reorientation or otherwise endangers Yerevan's traditionally
close ties with Moscow.
But some early signs of worsening relations between Yerevan and Moscow
suggest that Russia is watching its ally's "flirting" with the West
with a great deal of jealousy, to say the least.
Last month Russia openly defied Armenia's request to stop the
operations of its controversial immigration program that is said to
encourage outward migration from the tiny South Caucasus country and
this difference in the positions of the two former Soviet allies had
to be reflected in the minutes of a recent intergovernmental committee
meeting in Yerevan.
In what could be viewed as further evidence of growing differences
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have canceled/postponed
his visit to Armenia in September even though diplomats in Yerevan
and Moscow rushed to explain that no visit had been scheduled in
the first place. Prior to that, on several occasions, Armenia spoke
dismissively of the idea of joining a Eurasian Union, a Putin-advocated
reintegration project for former Soviet countries.
No wonder that such a position would draw an angry "analysis"
from leading pro-Kremlin pundit Mikhail Leontyev, who published an
article in October reminding Armenia about its heavy reliance on
Russia for economy and security. The "privileged" price of Russian
natural gas supplies to Armenia has repeatedly been mentioned as a
major argument in this context. Negotiations over the price of this
fuel essential to Armenia's economy may become a further indicator
of where the Armenian-Russian relations go against the background of
an approaching presidential election in Armenia.
In a November 5 article published in Vestnikkavkaza.net, analysts
Yekaterina Tesemnikova, from Moscow, and David Stepanyan, from
Yerevan, described Armenia's vagueness on the Eurasian Union idea as
"reasonable".
"And the reason is not the pressure of the West and not even the hope
of receiving 1.5 billion euros in Europe, allegedly promised in case
of an irreversible movement of Armenia on the path of "strengthening
democracy." In fact, the government of [Armenian President Serzh]
Sargsyan expects from Moscow guarantees of substantial financial,
economic and political support till the presidential elections,
including gas prices acceptable for Armenia."
The authors further concluded: "Persuading Armenia to participate in
the Russian integration project is certainly possible, but only by
applying the so-called "soft power", popularizing and economically
justifying the benefits of carrying out the idea of the Eurasian
Union."
By Suren Musayelyan
ArmeniaNow
06.11.12 | 10:27
Armenia and NATO have again exchanged their "partnership" credentials
this week as events dedicated to their deepening ties were launched
in Yerevan on Monday.
Speaking at a seminar held as part of the NATO Week events in the
Armenian capital, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative
for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai described Armenia
as an important partner for the military alliance. He especially
noted Armenia's considerable contribution to the ISAF operation
in Afghanistan.
Appathurai, who was scheduled to meet with senior government officials
in Yerevan, said NATO was seeking a deeper involvement in the South
Caucasus and would like to step up its cooperation with Armenia. He
said the alliance leadership was now considering ways of gaining a
"stronger foothold" in the volatile region.
"But, of course, we don't want to impose ourselves. We just want
to offer more opportunities for cooperation. And if countries like
Armenia but also Georgia and Azerbaijan wish to take this offer, we
will have more to do, more on the menu in the coming months and years,"
the official said in an interview with RFE/RL's Armenian service.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen also spoke of
potentialities for developing further partnership with Armenia
as he visited Yerevan in September. He insisted that there is "no
contradiction" between Armenia's military alliance with Russia and
closer ties with NATO - a stance shared by the leadership of Armenia,
a member of the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization
that hosts the only Russian military base in the South Caucasus.
Pro-establishment politicians and analysts in Armenia have also tried
to present the nation's growing ties with NATO and generally with the
West (including negotiations on deeper ties with the European Union)
as part of a comprehensive foreign policy agenda that does not involve
any reorientation or otherwise endangers Yerevan's traditionally
close ties with Moscow.
But some early signs of worsening relations between Yerevan and Moscow
suggest that Russia is watching its ally's "flirting" with the West
with a great deal of jealousy, to say the least.
Last month Russia openly defied Armenia's request to stop the
operations of its controversial immigration program that is said to
encourage outward migration from the tiny South Caucasus country and
this difference in the positions of the two former Soviet allies had
to be reflected in the minutes of a recent intergovernmental committee
meeting in Yerevan.
In what could be viewed as further evidence of growing differences
Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to have canceled/postponed
his visit to Armenia in September even though diplomats in Yerevan
and Moscow rushed to explain that no visit had been scheduled in
the first place. Prior to that, on several occasions, Armenia spoke
dismissively of the idea of joining a Eurasian Union, a Putin-advocated
reintegration project for former Soviet countries.
No wonder that such a position would draw an angry "analysis"
from leading pro-Kremlin pundit Mikhail Leontyev, who published an
article in October reminding Armenia about its heavy reliance on
Russia for economy and security. The "privileged" price of Russian
natural gas supplies to Armenia has repeatedly been mentioned as a
major argument in this context. Negotiations over the price of this
fuel essential to Armenia's economy may become a further indicator
of where the Armenian-Russian relations go against the background of
an approaching presidential election in Armenia.
In a November 5 article published in Vestnikkavkaza.net, analysts
Yekaterina Tesemnikova, from Moscow, and David Stepanyan, from
Yerevan, described Armenia's vagueness on the Eurasian Union idea as
"reasonable".
"And the reason is not the pressure of the West and not even the hope
of receiving 1.5 billion euros in Europe, allegedly promised in case
of an irreversible movement of Armenia on the path of "strengthening
democracy." In fact, the government of [Armenian President Serzh]
Sargsyan expects from Moscow guarantees of substantial financial,
economic and political support till the presidential elections,
including gas prices acceptable for Armenia."
The authors further concluded: "Persuading Armenia to participate in
the Russian integration project is certainly possible, but only by
applying the so-called "soft power", popularizing and economically
justifying the benefits of carrying out the idea of the Eurasian
Union."