“I think that Edward Nalbandian’s candidacy was the one of a diplomat that has a great experience. I do not see a better candidate. Maybe there are, but I do not know”, so responded the Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Armenian National Academy of Sciences, Ruben Safrastyan, to the question of Aravot.am that given the existing problems in the field of foreign policy of Armenia and the discontent of various political forces about the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whether Edward Nalbandian’s reappointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs was appropriate.
Then he emphasized that the RA Foreign Minister should be able to solve the problems existing in three dimensions. “What does Armenia’s foreign policy mean? This means a foreign policy of a country, which is much smaller and has much less weight and role in the world. On the other hand, this means a foreign policy of a country, which has unresolved problems, but has appeared in an important and dangerous region.”
To our reminder that after signing the Armenian-Turkish protocols, many people were claiming that Edward Nalbandian should resign, about which there were hints in recent days, Mr. Safrastyan responded as follows, “I do not think he should have resigned. He is a very experienced diplomat, has worked in the Middle East and Europe, he knows the domestic streams of foreign relations. I do not know, maybe we have better diplomats, but I cannot tell which one would be better than him.”
Pertaining to Armenia’s foreign policy, Ruben Safrastyan recommends to move by the principle of three “T”, which is, be a small and smart country. Later, he assured that in the newly established world, we can convey a new quality to our foreign policy, and detailed, “Currently, the role of political and cultural channels are gradually growing in the world. And we, being the old and first Christian nation, and living around Ararat, can use it better. In other words, we need to establish our policy on identity, not only interest, policy and balance. Our road is our identity, culture and Christianity, geopolitical position and our Diaspora.”
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Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
If our identity is Christian, why shall we follow the bolshevik-islamic Russian empire? It is obvious that Nalbandian is an appointee of Moscow, just an agent of KGB. If we shall follow Mr.Safrastyan’s formula, our place is Europe, our civilization is Europe, and thereforem we neew the people with modern, European values and mentality in our state system.