Publicist Mikhayil Leontyev who as we know expresses the opinion of the Russian government in a bit extreme way decided to talk about Armenia. The tone of his statement was rude, offensive and neglectful – you are zero without Russia; don’t even try not to join the Eurasian Union! There are also factual errors – for example, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant was closed by Nikolai Ryzhkov, no local force could have done it. However, I don’t want to talk about either the tone, or the errors. Let us talk about the idea itself.
Let us integrate in the “Eurasian direction.” However, Russia and Belarus have made such an attempt already. As early as during Yeltsin’s tenure, they established the Union State. Have the relations between those two states become better thanks to that? Lukashenka has been offered more opportunities to complain about his ally, which ostensibly “takes him for a ride” – doesn’t provide cheap natural gas, demands paying back the debts, joins the World Trade Organization etc. And if we talk about “complementarity,” Lukashenka himself who cooperates with the West from time to time to gain something from Russia is the most uncomplimentary. By the way, the Lukashenka regime is in the interest of the West, which, although complains about its authoritarianism, secretly encourages it realizing what problems Belarus may cause for its closest neighbor. Bearing in mind that poor experience, first of all Russia must give up on the “Eurasian” ideas, because, besides a headache, they will substantially benefit neither that state nor its people. I see certain irrationality in the fact that the Russian government continues to claim those ideas, which, unfortunately, has been characteristic of that state in different periods of its history. Otherwise, it would have realized that this union will remain on paper anyway. For me personally Russia, Europe and the United States are equally hypocritical and Pharisaic, but for me, the European integration is not about joining some military-strategic or economic unit, it is first of all about a certain culture of working, communicating with people, the society, thinking, after all, which we still have to learn. It is assiduity, diligence, law-abidance, orderliness, which oppose the Eurasian chaos.
And most importantly, before thinking of integrating with someone, we should overcome the stereotype deeply rooted in us – if there is no Russian (European, American), the Turk will attack and destroy us. If that pattern is not present, many issues, including internal ones, will be solved.
ARAM ABRAHAMYAN
