RUSSIA WILL NOT GRANT ARMENIAN OPPOSITION LEADER BENEFITS
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
April 15 2013
Leader of the Heritage Party of Armenia Raffi Ovannisyan, the candidate
coming second at the presidential election, visited Moscow on April
12. He said after returning back to Armenia that he had been invited
to Moscow.
The Kremlin denied rumours about Ovannisyan's meeting with Vladimir
Chernov, head of the Presidential Office for Interregional and
Cultural Ties.
Alexey Vlasov, Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, said that Russia
was not planning to grant any political benefits to figures like
Ovannisyan. The government and opposition in Armenia are trying to
understand Kremlin's attitude towards the political developments
in Armenia.
Vlasov noted that Ovannisyan was of pro-Western vector. The expert
believes that Russia is more interested in supporting Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan. Ovannisyan did not speak for Eurasian
integration during his campaign and was critical about the strategic
ally of Armenia.
Alexander Skakov, coordinator of a working group of the Institute for
Central Asia and Caucasus of the Institute for oriental Studies of the
RAS, supposes that Raffi Ovannisyan is trying to convince Moscow that
he is not an anti-Russian project. Russia needs to know the details
of interior political life in Armenia.
Skakov believes that Ovannisyan wants to change Moscow's image of
opposition. He confirmed that many people in Moscow considered the
Armenian opposition leader a pro-Western figure..
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
April 15 2013
Leader of the Heritage Party of Armenia Raffi Ovannisyan, the candidate
coming second at the presidential election, visited Moscow on April
12. He said after returning back to Armenia that he had been invited
to Moscow.
The Kremlin denied rumours about Ovannisyan's meeting with Vladimir
Chernov, head of the Presidential Office for Interregional and
Cultural Ties.
Alexey Vlasov, Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, said that Russia
was not planning to grant any political benefits to figures like
Ovannisyan. The government and opposition in Armenia are trying to
understand Kremlin's attitude towards the political developments
in Armenia.
Vlasov noted that Ovannisyan was of pro-Western vector. The expert
believes that Russia is more interested in supporting Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan. Ovannisyan did not speak for Eurasian
integration during his campaign and was critical about the strategic
ally of Armenia.
Alexander Skakov, coordinator of a working group of the Institute for
Central Asia and Caucasus of the Institute for oriental Studies of the
RAS, supposes that Raffi Ovannisyan is trying to convince Moscow that
he is not an anti-Russian project. Russia needs to know the details
of interior political life in Armenia.
Skakov believes that Ovannisyan wants to change Moscow's image of
opposition. He confirmed that many people in Moscow considered the
Armenian opposition leader a pro-Western figure..