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ARMENIA: FOREIGN POLITICAL SUMMARY OF 2013
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 9 2014
9 January 2014 - 2:16pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
2013 was full of foreign political events for Armenia, with the most
important of them happening at the end of the year.
We cannot say that there were serious events in negotiations on
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2013. The reason for
this was the electoral cycle in both countries, which came to an end.
That's why presidents Sargsyan and Aliyev met in November, when all
elections had ended. The meeting after a long break (the last meeting
took place in January 2012) was a positive phenomenon, but in general
there was no progress in the process in 2013.
The main direction was talks between Armenia and the EU on signing
the association and deep and overall free trade zone agreement. The
talks continued for 3 and a half years. In the summer it was announced
that they were completed. It was expected that in late November the
President of Armenia would sign both documents, but it didn't happen.
On September 3rd President Serge Sargsyan made an unexpected statement
on Armenia's joining the Customs Union. According to some experts,
the reason for this was misinterpretation or even misunderstanding of
"complementarity" by the current authorities of the country.
In 1997 Armenia and Russia signed the agreement on friendship and
cooperation. Therefore, Yerevan made the Russian direction a priority;
all other foreign political directions should have been complementary.
The foreign political course of the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan
fully accorded with the ideology of complementarity.
Robert Kocharyan followed the same course with slight fluctuations.
But under the current leadership official Yerevan stated that the
European direction became a priority. Russia considered the statement
and corresponding steps by Yerevan within the talks with the EU as
an attack on its geopolitical positions. Even though officials from
Yerevan say that the statement of September 3rd was made free-will, the
logics of events which preceded it points out an influence on Yerevan.
The unexpected turn in the process which continued for three years and
a half meant that the talks with the EU were started by the Armenian
side without consideration of possible consequences, first of all
in the security sphere. It is real failure of the European foreign
political project. Some supporters of the president state that an
agreement on Armenia's joining the CU was achieved long ago. But it
means that the Armenian side cheated on Europe for three years and
a half.
Today all decisions on the CU are made hastily by Armenia, and it
can lead to serious problems, first of all, a growth of prices for
certain goods. The staggering of the Armenian authorities resulted
in the fact that official Yerevan has no image of a reliable partner
either in Russia or in the West today.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/49615.html
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Jan 9 2014
9 January 2014 - 2:16pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
2013 was full of foreign political events for Armenia, with the most
important of them happening at the end of the year.
We cannot say that there were serious events in negotiations on
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2013. The reason for
this was the electoral cycle in both countries, which came to an end.
That's why presidents Sargsyan and Aliyev met in November, when all
elections had ended. The meeting after a long break (the last meeting
took place in January 2012) was a positive phenomenon, but in general
there was no progress in the process in 2013.
The main direction was talks between Armenia and the EU on signing
the association and deep and overall free trade zone agreement. The
talks continued for 3 and a half years. In the summer it was announced
that they were completed. It was expected that in late November the
President of Armenia would sign both documents, but it didn't happen.
On September 3rd President Serge Sargsyan made an unexpected statement
on Armenia's joining the Customs Union. According to some experts,
the reason for this was misinterpretation or even misunderstanding of
"complementarity" by the current authorities of the country.
In 1997 Armenia and Russia signed the agreement on friendship and
cooperation. Therefore, Yerevan made the Russian direction a priority;
all other foreign political directions should have been complementary.
The foreign political course of the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan
fully accorded with the ideology of complementarity.
Robert Kocharyan followed the same course with slight fluctuations.
But under the current leadership official Yerevan stated that the
European direction became a priority. Russia considered the statement
and corresponding steps by Yerevan within the talks with the EU as
an attack on its geopolitical positions. Even though officials from
Yerevan say that the statement of September 3rd was made free-will, the
logics of events which preceded it points out an influence on Yerevan.
The unexpected turn in the process which continued for three years and
a half meant that the talks with the EU were started by the Armenian
side without consideration of possible consequences, first of all
in the security sphere. It is real failure of the European foreign
political project. Some supporters of the president state that an
agreement on Armenia's joining the CU was achieved long ago. But it
means that the Armenian side cheated on Europe for three years and
a half.
Today all decisions on the CU are made hastily by Armenia, and it
can lead to serious problems, first of all, a growth of prices for
certain goods. The staggering of the Armenian authorities resulted
in the fact that official Yerevan has no image of a reliable partner
either in Russia or in the West today.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/articles/politics/49615.html