According to the political analyst Ruben Mehrabyan, “today, some officials and tycoons are on the same plane with Heydar Aliyev, Assad or Kim Il-sung in the same plane.”
– Mr. Mehrabyan, first let’s sum up the outcomes of the “Eastern Partnership” Summit in Riga regarding Armenia. What was positive for our country, and what is negative?
– First, the most important thing happened. The doors of the EU were not closed to Armenia, but, on the contrary, a new opportunity is opened to our state, and it is affixed by the document. It’s another question about how and with what efficiently it will be used. It was also an important achievement that by the Declaration, the EU expressed its support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group on the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict, refraining from any predetermined formulations. In fact, the joint efforts of Moscow, Ankara, and Baku to discredit the Minsk group and to put its mandate under a question vanished into thin air. It was also an achievement that partly dispersed the dangerous shadow hanging on our country’s interests and dignity on the issue of the Crimea, and the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko talked on this. However, the overall situation remains extremely worrying.
Donald Tusk’s statement was remarkable that the Summit is proceeding under the conditions of intimidation and aggression, of course, referring to Russia. And the strategic response to is not yet outlined by the EU; the Riga summit too, however, left this issue on hold. For Armenia, this means that our security threats are not reduced as the Kremlin’s imperialist and revisionist authoritarian rule not feels itself unpunished. Even the Washington statement regarding the decisive support for the rapprochement of the EU and EaP countries is not convincing enough for Moscow. However, it should be said that this is a complex and dynamic process, and the main developments are still ahead. It is important that Europe, in fact, refuses to recognize Russia’s allegedly “legitimate interests” in the post-Soviet countries, i.e. the “right” to destroy and plunder without any punishment. This is extremely necessary, but it is far away from being satisfactory.
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– The President of Armenia noted in his speech that Armenia is committed to take steps jointly with its EU partners to design a new legal foundations for our relations, which will be compatible with the other integration processes, in particular, with the commitments stemming from our accession to the Eurasian Economic Union. Do you consider the “compatibility” in practice possible?
– After the “accident” of September 3, Armenia got a new opportunity to be integrated to the civilization. However, the problem is that prior to September 3, the government authorities were taking steps to raise the resistance of the state against potential Russian pressures. Given the government’s “anamnesis”, it is hard to imagine that it will be done in the near future. What will Serzh Sargsyan do, let’s say when the new legal foundations for the RA-EU future relations would not be to the liking of Moscow? These rumors about the “compatibility”, of course, are merely rhetoric. Everybody understands that this is simply incompatible.
It is impossible to make it compatible, let’s say, the total concretion of business and politics with their strict separation, the independent court with the government’s punch court, the imperative of the government to be accountable to the public with the need of maintaining boundless power of the criminal oligarchy and so on. It is not compatible in principle. It’s just from the sphere of alchemy. It is not possible to get closer to the Europe by tolerating “at home” the arbitraries of semi-literate, irresponsible, criminal-oligarchic class and their friendly Russian state organizations. The shame related to Russian ENA is a good example of it. This company has been involved in pure and boundless plundering of Armenia’s energy system, by accumulating nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in debt.
The solution of the question is surficial, either this Russian state company should compensate for the mistakes or the crimes committed by its daughter enterprise, or a “property for debt”, which means handing over the property and assets back to the Government of Armenia and disappear from here. Will the government go for it? It will if the society compels it. Today, a number of ministers publicly declare that they are helpless and have no leverage to combat the flagrant illegality existing in their subordinated spheres. And they say it without being blushed. While the prime minister even boasts that the “politics requires no brains.” Today, some officials and oligarchs, seeing them on the same plane with Heydar Aliyev, Assad or Kim Il-sung, fit their family favorite “Ilham”, “Bashar” or “Kim Jong-il” into various appointed or even elected positions. Is this also compatible? The government does not oppose this evil phenomenon, moreover, it provides a political and partisan support.
Civilization is simply incompatible with violence and cynicism. Thus, Armenian president’s assurances strongly require to be proved in practice. And we should set a task not to make the compatible incompatible, but to return the state its functions, to restore the institution of elections, to protect the statehood from the government and to pave a way to come out from this “Eurasian” cave. There is no “and-and”, only a Free and Independent Armenia can be compatible with Europe, accordingly, free and independent from Russia, and the rest is either a deception or a self-deception.
– During the days of the Riga Summit, especially the European officials were reiterating that the “Eastern Partnership” is not directed against Russia. Do you see a mitigation on the stances between the EU and Russia in this stage? If so, what will it lead to?
– It should be noted that, indeed, the EU is not aimed at the Eastern Partnership, in principle and objectively they cannot directly be against Russia or anyone else. In itself, the EU model is against the conflict, it has been created to avoid the conflicts, wars, and even the world wars, and after 1945, the life showed both the viability and necessity of this model. Thus, the aspiration of the Central Europe becomes clear – to be integrated to this peace, freedom and prosperity Union after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The same, later on, for the Balkans bent down under the age-old conflicts, and then the similar natural aspiration in the Eastern Europe, i.e. the post-Soviet countries, even if the first steps are made in this directions, full of mistakes and misunderstandings.
It’s another issue that Moscow says or visualize the opposite. Moreover, as a result of gross strategic error of the political class of the post-Soviet countries and the West, we are dealing with the fact that the sovereignty of the Eastern Partnership countries actually is limited by Russia. The Kremlin influence in these countries is too big and is displayed by the effect of systemic poisoning. Corruption, treasure plundering, criminal, and oligarchy – these are the pillars of Russia in the post-Soviet area, and all of this is displayed in our country in a vivid way. On this background, the impression that a mitigation is felt in the Russia-West relations, I think, is false. Rather, there is a tactical pause, which Moscow and the West need to have, certainly, for different considerations. The main reason of resistance is not eliminated, it is maintained. The reason is the fascist idea of the “Russian world”, which like a ghost inhabits in the brains of the multi-births in the hallways and the cabinets of the Kremlin and Lubyanka.
– The fact that the clause in final statement of the Riga Summit about the Karabakh conflict did not mention the fundamental principles of the settlement, which probably caused a discontent with Baku, could it be considered a certain achievement by the Armenian diplomacy?
– Partially, yes. However, this key development is not only due to the efforts of the Armenian diplomacy. Indeed, this is directly derived from Armenia’s interests, but, in addition, from the regional and international security interests. Life will show how far this very positive trend will go, which will bring the official Baku back to the constructive roots and will facilitate reaching honorable peace in the region – the vital key task.
– If we compare the attitude of the West towards Azerbaijan and Armenia in recent months, do you notice differences? Recently, Azerbaijan is often slammed by the US and the EU countries. How do you explain it? And what are the additional steps for our state to take under this situation to the benefit of Armenia?
– An important trend is outlined in the European politics. It seems that the irresponsible blind eye called “one step forward”, which gave rise to many anecdotes and discrediting of the European values, to some extent has begun yielding its place to the practice of calling things by their names. The statements by the Speaker of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, are strongly remarkable, saying that the dictatorships have no room in Europe and that Belarus and Azerbaijan do not correspond to the European values by their domestic structure. It is also noteworthy that Armenia is missing in this “honorary” list. However, here, we are dealing with a huge “advance” and if the real reforms continue marking time as it is nowadays, then we would easily appear next to them.
It is also very important that both in Belarus and Azerbaijan, as well as in Kazakhstan and, of course, in Russia, tough laws against NGOs are operating, which, at least for now, is missing in Armenia. “Friends” Volinkin, Kosachev, Kiselyov, Bordyuzha and the remaining “friends” of the Armenian people are extremely irritated by this. And it is not excluded that a demand be placed before Armenia’s authorities by Moscow to combat the “orange threat” by using the “Russian experience”, for instances, to bring the “Yanukovych package” from Moscow and compel to accept it. Armenia’s civil society must be ready for this challenge and prevent turning the country into a Lukashenko kolkhoz or Aliyev-Putin Cheka Khanate.
Emma GABRIELYAN
“Aravot” daily
