Former NKR Foreign Minister Arman Melikyan about the Riga summit and the outcome of the EPP congress
– Armenia’s European agenda remains a foreign policy priority of ours, announced Serzh Sargsyan at the “Eastern Partnership” Summit in Riga. Serzh Sargsyan reiterated that Armenia shall proceed by the path of matching different integration directions when building relationships with the EU. The Summit adopted a joint declaration, which states that the EU supports the Eastern Partnership member states to determine their future of their own, including by joining different unions without intimidation. Serge Sargsyan’s presence in the Summit already proves that Armenia maintains its serious sentiments regarding the EU perspective. What was your impression from the Armenia-EU agreement in Riga? What conclusions can be drawn from all that?
– The geopolitical developments in our adjacent regions acquire great speed, and the states appeared in their whirlpool can also have very tragic consequences. Armenia is not in a condition to endanger its own existence by applying for unnecessary risk. We cannot avoid participating in foreign games, but we should build the logic of our participation on very realistic grounds. In the twentieth century, Armenians were enthusiastic fighter for freedom in Turkish, Persian and Russian revolutions, but for creating preconditions for new and happy life, our unfounded optimism led to the fact that we had enormous casualties and incredible territorial losses. I think that the harsh lessons of the Ukrainian crisis also taught a lot to the EU officials, today Armenia has much better opportunities for gradual and proportional deepening of its relations with the EU than just a year ago. I think that the reassessment of the situation by the EU officials has already found its reflection in the document.
– In parallel, it was obvious that the Riga Summit was obvious anti-Russian sentiments. How would you comment on this?
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– Obvious anti-Russian sentiments are not new, today Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, to which Ukraine joined one year ago, are the banner-carriers of the Western anti-Russianism, and it would be very strange if the summit to be held in the capital of one of these countries be noticeable by an emphasized russophilia. Russophilia for the majority of these countries is not just a matter of political choice, but also a means to have a certain political role within the EU and the North-Atlantic Alliance, and receiving tangible advantages resulted thereof. It can be said that giving a preference to the anti-Russianism for them and the opportunity for receiving political and economic dividends resulted thereof have been successfully matched. Simultaneously, it is important to understand that the EU more influential members and the US are building their policy on entirely different grounds and driven by the imperative to overcome the true global challenges.
– The EPP Congress Declaration on Ukraine which was going parallel to the Summit contained pretty tough emphases against Russia. Armenia joined the Declaration with reservations. “Comprehensive settlement of the state of affairs in Ukraine is of primary significance both for the future of the country and relaxation of the current international tension. I hope that the farsighted attitude correctly appraising the situation will win over here as well; solutions will be found to respect mutual concerns, and the only stable avenue will be paved for mutual understanding; and, throughout every stage of these processes joint endeavors leading to comprehensive settlement will prevail over dissemination of one-sided fault-finding public statements, a temptation that leads nowhere. Unfortunately, I detect such signals also in the EPP declaration of today,” stated Serzh Sargsyan in his speech. The impression is that Serzh Sargsyan has assumed the role of the lawyer in the EPP. Is this an effective tactic?
– Even admitting that Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are in the position of accusing Russia, and Serzh Sargsyan has assumed the role of a lawyer for Russians, and in that sense, all of them serve certain political interests, we should note that, nevertheless, so far Armenia has maintained greater opportunities of political maneuver as it was able to keep its doors open as towards European so as towards Russian direction.
Nelly GRIGORYAN
“Aravot” daily
