“Looming impact” on Armenia

The developments in the Russian Federation impact all spheres of the Armenian life; military and security, economic and political spheres. Head of the Center for Regional Studies, political analyst Richard Giragosian wrote about this, drawing parallels between the recent developments in the Russian Federation, putting forward Prime Minister Putin’s candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, and the Armenian reality in his article published on commonspace.eu website. According to Giragosian, “this looming impact” of Russian political developments on Armenia stems from the recent announcement that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will seek to return to the presidency, “The return of Putin may exert significant influence over the course of Armenian politics, as it may encourage a similar return to power by former Armenian president Robert Kocharyan.  Unlike the carefully constructed Russian model of political succession, as in the cases of both the Yeltsin-Putin handover and the Putin-Medvedev arrangement, former President Kocharyan has been increasingly distressed over recent shifts in Armenian politics, for several reasons”, writes Giragosian, particularly stressing that “Kocharyan’s personal selection of successor, current President Serzh Sargsyan, did not go as planned”, he also thinks there is “a stronger, but more troubling, parallel” between Kocharyan and Putin.