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POLITICAL EXPERT: SOMEONE MADE SERZH SARGSYAN'S CHOICE FOR HIM ON SEPTEMBER 3
by David Stepanyan
ARMINFO
Thursday, May 15, 20:49
On September 3, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan did not choose
between European integration and accession to the Customs Union.
Someone obviously made that choice for him, Alexander Iskandaryan,
Director of the Caucasus Institute, said at today's Caucasus- 2013
international conference in Yerevan.
"In other words, Armenia was made an offer that its president could not
refuse. I am convinced that any of the well-known Armenian politicians
would do the same, i.e. he would have to make a similar choice in the
best interests of the country's security", said Iskandaryan. He added
that the signs of that change in Armenia's foreign policy had been
displayed a few months before that decision, for instance, during the
Russian President's visit to Baku. "No wonder that upon completion of
the visit, an agreement was signed to sell Russian military hardware
worth 4 mln USD to Azerbaijan", he said.
In this light, the expert thinks that Europe, the USA and Russia
should understand that Armenia cannot have non-special relations with
any country. They only need to look at the map to see that Armenia has
only two real neighbors - Iran and Georgia. Subsequently, the EU should
understand the reasons of Yerevan's dependence on Moscow in the matter
of security and should take this fact into account when preparing a
cooperation agenda with Armenia. "I believe that despite Armenia's
forthcoming accession to the Customs Union, Armenia can cooperate
with the EU, naturally, outside security issues and DCFTA", he said.
The conference is annually organized by the Caucasus Institute with
the support of the Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (ASCN). This year
the conference covered the reports of representatives of Armenia,
Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Switzerland. The reports included
a short analysis of the most important developments of 2013 in the
South Caucasus countries.
by David Stepanyan
ARMINFO
Thursday, May 15, 20:49
On September 3, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan did not choose
between European integration and accession to the Customs Union.
Someone obviously made that choice for him, Alexander Iskandaryan,
Director of the Caucasus Institute, said at today's Caucasus- 2013
international conference in Yerevan.
"In other words, Armenia was made an offer that its president could not
refuse. I am convinced that any of the well-known Armenian politicians
would do the same, i.e. he would have to make a similar choice in the
best interests of the country's security", said Iskandaryan. He added
that the signs of that change in Armenia's foreign policy had been
displayed a few months before that decision, for instance, during the
Russian President's visit to Baku. "No wonder that upon completion of
the visit, an agreement was signed to sell Russian military hardware
worth 4 mln USD to Azerbaijan", he said.
In this light, the expert thinks that Europe, the USA and Russia
should understand that Armenia cannot have non-special relations with
any country. They only need to look at the map to see that Armenia has
only two real neighbors - Iran and Georgia. Subsequently, the EU should
understand the reasons of Yerevan's dependence on Moscow in the matter
of security and should take this fact into account when preparing a
cooperation agenda with Armenia. "I believe that despite Armenia's
forthcoming accession to the Customs Union, Armenia can cooperate
with the EU, naturally, outside security issues and DCFTA", he said.
The conference is annually organized by the Caucasus Institute with
the support of the Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (ASCN). This year
the conference covered the reports of representatives of Armenia,
Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Switzerland. The reports included
a short analysis of the most important developments of 2013 in the
South Caucasus countries.