President of the “European Free Alliance” party, Francois Alfonsí, in the interview with Aravot.am, did not hide his astonishment at how it happened that in the event of far-reaching negotiations with the EU, Armenia joined the EaEU. Although he believes that the EaEU accession does not obstruct Armenia to cooperate with European structures. According to Francois Alfonsi, “in their cooperation, the matter refers to freedom and solution of conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, which is not an economic issue” and expresses hope that both the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh will be able to establish active cooperation with all countries. Although he is astonished, however, Mr. Alfonsí accepts that Armenia is a country that is close to European standards and the culture, with the connection that is available with a large diaspora. Hence, he warned that let it not seem intervention, but “Armenia should strengthen ties with Europe anyway.”
He added, “Now, there is a temporary pause but there are steps that were implemented in a timely manner. The talks had gone far away with the EU, and there was hope and expectation that it would have a victorious end with Europe. It was an unexpected denouement.” To our next question that PACE has decided to prepare a report on Nagorno-Karabakh with an infamous title: “Rise in violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan”, so how he will estimate this fact and whether it does not mean that they intervene in the works and format of the Minsk Group, Mr. Alfonsí replied, “PACE, including the OSCE Minsk Group, involves both sides of the conflict. The Minsk Group is acting as an observer in the conflict settlement process. It continues to play a dominant role in every case, but even in this case, the European institutions have the opportunity to act as an expert, and when there is another intermediary, in that case, it would be much easier to achieve solution of the problem.” As an example, the European official brought the European Parliament, noting that this is one of the most useful structures on such issues as it has a great freedom and can compel the EU to have a bigger coverage in the region.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
