Khachatur Kokobelyan believes that the official Yerevan should draw conclusions from the Russian-Ukrainian “economic war”.
– Although the relevant high rank officials of Armenia have repeatedly stated that the official Yerevan will initialing the EU Association Agreement on November, the skepticism still persists in certain political circles. Do you also fear that the RA authorities would not have enough courage at the last moment?
– Today, we are short of serious discussions on the subject, whether RA authorities and political parties are able to be guided exclusively by the interests of our country, and not to run a scared policy as to how our interests counter to the interests of other countries in given moment, ignoring the true interests of Armenia in this process.
In the future, we consider it necessary to make the issue a subject of in-depth discussion among political and experimental circles to make the opinions voiced clearer and fundamental for the public about what the initialing or not initialing of the Association Agreement will bring to Armenia.
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It does not refer to the official publication of the main document, but the execution of the Constitutional rights of RA citizens to be aware of the essence and content of the agreement, in the provision of which the current authorities are the number one responsible entity. Perhaps, it is because of the lack of information that this confusion emerges. Literally, sometimes the importance of the issue is downplayed, and the arguments raised so far, both pros and cons, are often very primitive.
For example, I consider the view that is recently often put into circulation, very dangerous that Armenia going for expansion of economic cooperation programs with EU endangers its security. In other words, some political and expert circles still are trying to present this issue exclusively from the perspective of RF, unhesitatingly saying that it is not beneficial for RF and Armenia should not take that step. Unfortunately, no arguments are presented to this respect as to how it is beneficial or non-beneficial to exactly Armenia. It is impossible to approach this major issue of foreign policy on such level. Initialing the Association Agreement creates a chance for Armenia to have access to the largest economic market, and I do not consider it correct to move the issue only to the security system. For example, Mexico and the EU, still in 2000, have ratified the Free Trade Agreement, thus solving only economic problem.
I strongly believe that RA authorities feeling an obligation to be guided exclusively by the interests of Armenia should find strength in them and sign the EU Association and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade agreements. It is a prerequisite for the development of Armenia. There is also an important political issue. Armenia, being in the blockade, and having the Nagorno-Karabakh unresolved conflict, without joining these agreements, will put itself on the path of economic blockade. These agreements will provide the opportunity to Armenia to create a ground for free economic competition to solve the issues of involvement of new resources in our worn-out economic system. Our internal resource, as of today, are not enough to go for such required situational changes in Armenia, otherwise, those changes would have been occurred. Consequently, we, implicitly, should create other opportunities and resources. I mean financial, marketing, and the importance of having a competitive economy so rapidly evolving in the world.
– You mean that signing of the Association Agreement, there will be a prospective for opening of the Armenian-Turkish border?
– It is another question, and on another plane. But I’ve always been of the opinion that Armenia should use every opportunity and not to have closed borders. This is an opportunity for opening of the borders. Unresolved conflict, difficult socio-economic situation, closed borders for a country, like Armenia, means serious obstacle to development, restrictions of opportunities, not matter what wording you would like to give. I absolute do not consider it appropriate to move expansion of economic relations with the EU exclusively to the plane of security systems. It could be formulated rougher, but so far I will say mildly that the politicians and analysts of Armenia should proceed based on the interests of Armenia, rather than projecting Russian, European, or Western interests in our political system.
In this sense, guided exclusively by cold and solid calculations, we have always expressed our opinion that we support the expansion and integration of economic relations with not only the EU, but also Armenia should include the issue of EU membership in its agenda. Today, it may seem untimely for many of us, but thirty years ago very few could imagine that countries can be collapsed, and now vanish from the world’s map. And in the context of today’s world, to be a full member of the Europe is the most perspective and preferable for Armenia.
And those, who are talking about NKR conflict, need to clearly realize something that the guarantee for security of RA and NKR is to have a developed and viable Armenia. We need to carry out such a policy that the security of Armenia will not depend on anyone’s will. Bringing the textbook truth into deadlock deliberately, and to say that if we do not behave well, Russians will destroy us, it is simply humiliating. While raising such ideas, first it is necessary to consider the dignity of the state and the society.
But to rely hopes exclusively with the Association Agreement and to cherish hopes that with signing it Armenia will promptly develop, is not so. It is simply a prerequisite, which will enable to involve additional resources, to solve the issues of creating an effectively administered state.
– Do you think realistic that before initialing the Association Agreement RF will encourage adventures of Azerbaijan to commence hostility?
– I think that it will not encourage. RF has its own problems. In today’s world, huge geopolitical processes, origination of war centers, and so on, do not take place unilaterally. Any superpower, including the RF, can not make unilateral decisions. In addition, RF has the issue of Sochi Olympiad, to which the world does not seem to respond definitely. I do not think that it would be beneficial for RF to enter into similar processes before the Olympiad.
– Is the economic war that Moscow has started against Ukraine a threat to Armenia, especially when many economic capacities of Armenia are now in the hands of Russia? In fact, different calibers of Russian analysts are already talking about applying the sample of Ukraine by Russia to Armenia.
– Yes, unfortunately, so far, as a result of Armenia’s policy, the most important facilities of Armenia’s economy of strategic importance do not belong to Armenia. They belong to Russian companies, and once when we were talking about it, we were considered anti-Russians. We have also yielded the most important attributes of independence, including the security, but now it is the the right moment to think sober, and make serious conclusions from situation created to avoid once again going to dispossession of Armenia.
I think RF will not treat with Armenia as with Ukraine. Not because they will be kinder to us. The economic relations between RF and Ukraine are on a different level, they cover a great scope, Russian economy will suffer greatly if cut from Ukrainian economy.
But in Armenia, it needs to especially make conclusions from all this, realize that to avoid all this in the future it needs at least once to be able to stand upright, to stretch the spine, and be guided exclusively by the interests of Armenia. No one says that it needs to deteriorate the relations with RF or destroy them. And if they think in RF that signing the Association Agreement RA endangers its relations with RF, it means that we have to think seriously about the quality of our strategic relationships.
Nelly Grigoryan
