VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN: ARMENIAN POLITICAL SCIENCE HAS BEEN CLARIFYING THE RUSSIAN NATIONAL INTERESTS TO RUSSIANS FOR ALMOST THREE CENTURIES
by Emmanuil Lazarian
Friday, November 22, 16:23
For almost three centuries already the Armenian political science
has been clarifying the Russian national interests to Russians, Vahan
Hovhannisyan, MP, member of ARFD Bureau, told ArmInfo's correspondent
in the lobby of the recent International Conference "The CSTO and
the Modern Security Challenges". The MP thinks that it's time to
stop doing that and to focus on elaboration of national priorities
on the basis of our own interests and "to pursue these interests in
any situation, to insist on them and not to try to naively correct
the foreign political activity of Europeans, Russians or Americans,
because Armenia's significance in the international arena is not big
enough for the powers to give ear to Armenia".
Hovhannisyan thinks that Russia is a huge country with an imperial
past, a federal system and a big problematic economy. Many topical
regional issues of great importance to Armenia are non-essential and
secondary for Russia. "It is a simple lack of foresight not to see the
direct bridge between the ongoing developments in the Greater Middle
East and the danger nestled in Russia itself. To all appearances, the
political science of Russia sees no correlation between the regional
challenges and the disintegration processes inside the country,
whereas these processes are clearly visible through the growth of
nationalistic separatist movements and especially the movements
supported by the terrorist groups", he stressed.
In the meantime, the MP thinks that "its' high time Armenia minded its
own business". "Over the two decades of independence, our country's
significance in the international arena has not only failed to rise
but also dropped, unfortunately. We failed to use the period when
we were of more significance, especially after the Karabakh war and
the ceasefire. These twenty years were absolutely empty for us. Then
the situation started deteriorating for both internal and external
reasons, but we did not prepare the country for that and today we
reap the bitter fruits", said Hovhannisyan. Nevertheless, he thinks
that the situation is not hopeless yet. "There is a way out of the
bad situation, but there may be losses and victims. So, everything
should be done to prevent fatalities and loss of statehood and the
whole population. Unfortunately, the concept of how to do that is
not clear yet and the Armenian Government does not yet realize this
danger", said Hovhannisyan.
To recall, when commenting on the ongoing integration processes
during the Nov 19 CSTO conference in Yerevan, ARFD Bureau member
Vahan Hovhannisyan said that if Armenia and Russia are allies, there
should be no pressure. He recalled that Russia and later the Soviet
Union had both allies and rivals in the West. Today the situation
is quite the opposite. "They try to make us understand that Armenia
should make a civilized choice between Russia and Europe. When did
Russia stop being Europe?" the parliamentarian said.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=4DF580D0-5379-11E3-B92D0EB7C0D21663
by Emmanuil Lazarian
Friday, November 22, 16:23
For almost three centuries already the Armenian political science
has been clarifying the Russian national interests to Russians, Vahan
Hovhannisyan, MP, member of ARFD Bureau, told ArmInfo's correspondent
in the lobby of the recent International Conference "The CSTO and
the Modern Security Challenges". The MP thinks that it's time to
stop doing that and to focus on elaboration of national priorities
on the basis of our own interests and "to pursue these interests in
any situation, to insist on them and not to try to naively correct
the foreign political activity of Europeans, Russians or Americans,
because Armenia's significance in the international arena is not big
enough for the powers to give ear to Armenia".
Hovhannisyan thinks that Russia is a huge country with an imperial
past, a federal system and a big problematic economy. Many topical
regional issues of great importance to Armenia are non-essential and
secondary for Russia. "It is a simple lack of foresight not to see the
direct bridge between the ongoing developments in the Greater Middle
East and the danger nestled in Russia itself. To all appearances, the
political science of Russia sees no correlation between the regional
challenges and the disintegration processes inside the country,
whereas these processes are clearly visible through the growth of
nationalistic separatist movements and especially the movements
supported by the terrorist groups", he stressed.
In the meantime, the MP thinks that "its' high time Armenia minded its
own business". "Over the two decades of independence, our country's
significance in the international arena has not only failed to rise
but also dropped, unfortunately. We failed to use the period when
we were of more significance, especially after the Karabakh war and
the ceasefire. These twenty years were absolutely empty for us. Then
the situation started deteriorating for both internal and external
reasons, but we did not prepare the country for that and today we
reap the bitter fruits", said Hovhannisyan. Nevertheless, he thinks
that the situation is not hopeless yet. "There is a way out of the
bad situation, but there may be losses and victims. So, everything
should be done to prevent fatalities and loss of statehood and the
whole population. Unfortunately, the concept of how to do that is
not clear yet and the Armenian Government does not yet realize this
danger", said Hovhannisyan.
To recall, when commenting on the ongoing integration processes
during the Nov 19 CSTO conference in Yerevan, ARFD Bureau member
Vahan Hovhannisyan said that if Armenia and Russia are allies, there
should be no pressure. He recalled that Russia and later the Soviet
Union had both allies and rivals in the West. Today the situation
is quite the opposite. "They try to make us understand that Armenia
should make a civilized choice between Russia and Europe. When did
Russia stop being Europe?" the parliamentarian said.
http://www.arminfo.am/index.cfm?objectid=4DF580D0-5379-11E3-B92D0EB7C0D21663