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ARMENIA RATIFIES RUSSIA-LOBBIED AGREEMENT, STILL APPEARS TO BE LOOKING UP TO WEST
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
Analysis | 12.09.12 | 11:56
Photo: State Department/ William Ng
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (L), Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton will try to smooth the tensions between Yerevan and
Baku before the UN General Assembly, stated an official representative
of the U.S. State Department after the meeting of the two countries'
top diplomats on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
summit in Vladivostok, Russia, last weekend.
The meeting of the UN General Assembly is scheduled for September 18
and it is expected that proposals on Karabakh will be made then. In
particular, the OSCE Minsk Group, an international format spearheaded
by the US, France and Russia that has for two decades been trying to
find a negotiated peace to the conflict, may be declared ineffective.
The State Department representative also said that the situation with
Ramil Safarov's extradition makes Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations
meaningless.
Russian expert Stanislav Tarasov believes the United States has
decided to establish a status quo in the region and are now trying
to oust Russia and Iran from both the Karabakh negotiation process
and the region's economic space.
Apparently, based on this fact Russia is trying to make Armenia finally
integrate with it economically. On Tuesday the Armenian parliament
ratified an agreement on 'CIS Free Trade Zone'. Armenia became the
fourth country, after Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, to have ratified
the agreement that was signed in 2011. Russia strongly demanded that
Armenia ratify the document.
Remarkably, skeptical opinions on this document were voiced in the
Armenian parliament. But neither the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA), nor experts said that the signing of the agreement means the
rejection of European integration. Deputy Parliament Speaker Edward
Sharmazanov, of the RPA, when asked about the likelihood of joining
the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan), said one should
not be looking that far now.
At the same time, the European Union's Special Representative for the
South Caucasus Philippe Lefort paid an unannounced visit to Armenia
on Tuesday. During his meetings in Yerevan Lefort said that Europe
will continue to support Armenia and develop cooperation. And Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan expressed hope that the agreement on Deep
and Comprehensive Trade with the EU will be signed by the end of 2013.
This caused a convulsive reaction from Russia. Russian Ambassador
to Armenia Vyacheslav Kovalenko suddenly made tough comments through
the press, saying that Russia is a guarantor of Armenia's security,
economic stability and even its national identity.
"After the collapse of the Soviet Union with the help of Russia Armenia
managed to retain many of its large enterprises that today are the
backbone of Armenia's national economy: natural gas distribution,
mining companies. Our companies work here in almost all spheres,
ensuring the Armenian budget, employing thousands of people," said
the ambassador in an interview with Novosti-Armenia. What the Russian
ambassador did not mention, however, is the fact that all of these
companies had been taken over by Russia and that Russia established
de-facto monopolies in these spheres, dictating prices and quality
to Armenia.
Meanwhile, Armenia is expanding its cooperation with the West not
only in the economic field, but also in the security domain.
In 2013, Yerevan plans to continue its mission in Afghanistan as part
of NATO's ISAF, said Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan on Tuesday during
a meeting with Commander of the German Armed Forces Operations Command,
Lieutenant General Rainer Glatz. The Armenian peacekeeping contingent
has been operating in Afghanistan under German command. The fact that
NATO is ready to expand its relations with Armenia was also underscored
during a recent visit to Yerevan by the Alliance's Secretary-General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
By Naira Hayrumyan
ArmeniaNow
Analysis | 12.09.12 | 11:56
Photo: State Department/ William Ng
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (L), Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton will try to smooth the tensions between Yerevan and
Baku before the UN General Assembly, stated an official representative
of the U.S. State Department after the meeting of the two countries'
top diplomats on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
summit in Vladivostok, Russia, last weekend.
The meeting of the UN General Assembly is scheduled for September 18
and it is expected that proposals on Karabakh will be made then. In
particular, the OSCE Minsk Group, an international format spearheaded
by the US, France and Russia that has for two decades been trying to
find a negotiated peace to the conflict, may be declared ineffective.
The State Department representative also said that the situation with
Ramil Safarov's extradition makes Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations
meaningless.
Russian expert Stanislav Tarasov believes the United States has
decided to establish a status quo in the region and are now trying
to oust Russia and Iran from both the Karabakh negotiation process
and the region's economic space.
Apparently, based on this fact Russia is trying to make Armenia finally
integrate with it economically. On Tuesday the Armenian parliament
ratified an agreement on 'CIS Free Trade Zone'. Armenia became the
fourth country, after Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, to have ratified
the agreement that was signed in 2011. Russia strongly demanded that
Armenia ratify the document.
Remarkably, skeptical opinions on this document were voiced in the
Armenian parliament. But neither the ruling Republican Party of Armenia
(RPA), nor experts said that the signing of the agreement means the
rejection of European integration. Deputy Parliament Speaker Edward
Sharmazanov, of the RPA, when asked about the likelihood of joining
the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan), said one should
not be looking that far now.
At the same time, the European Union's Special Representative for the
South Caucasus Philippe Lefort paid an unannounced visit to Armenia
on Tuesday. During his meetings in Yerevan Lefort said that Europe
will continue to support Armenia and develop cooperation. And Prime
Minister Tigran Sargsyan expressed hope that the agreement on Deep
and Comprehensive Trade with the EU will be signed by the end of 2013.
This caused a convulsive reaction from Russia. Russian Ambassador
to Armenia Vyacheslav Kovalenko suddenly made tough comments through
the press, saying that Russia is a guarantor of Armenia's security,
economic stability and even its national identity.
"After the collapse of the Soviet Union with the help of Russia Armenia
managed to retain many of its large enterprises that today are the
backbone of Armenia's national economy: natural gas distribution,
mining companies. Our companies work here in almost all spheres,
ensuring the Armenian budget, employing thousands of people," said
the ambassador in an interview with Novosti-Armenia. What the Russian
ambassador did not mention, however, is the fact that all of these
companies had been taken over by Russia and that Russia established
de-facto monopolies in these spheres, dictating prices and quality
to Armenia.
Meanwhile, Armenia is expanding its cooperation with the West not
only in the economic field, but also in the security domain.
In 2013, Yerevan plans to continue its mission in Afghanistan as part
of NATO's ISAF, said Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan on Tuesday during
a meeting with Commander of the German Armed Forces Operations Command,
Lieutenant General Rainer Glatz. The Armenian peacekeeping contingent
has been operating in Afghanistan under German command. The fact that
NATO is ready to expand its relations with Armenia was also underscored
during a recent visit to Yerevan by the Alliance's Secretary-General
Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress