The European Union assesses the situation in the South Caucasus as an opportunity for general stabilization, and it is ready to make financial investments to contribute to that stabilization. This is the opinion of Boris Navasardyan, President of the Yerevan Press Club, about the EU’s assistance of 1.5 billion euro provided to Armenia.
The EU is preparing to allocate an additional 1.5 billion euros over the next five years to fund Armenia’s five transitional programs, including for the development of Syunik.
In an interview with Aravot Daily, Navasardyan said that this support has both pros and partial cons. According to Navasardyan, the con is that the EU also considers that the Artsakh issue is solved as it is solved, and the pro is that it gives us an opportunity to develop Armenia and become a more independent state. “And this is the number one problem for the Republic of Armenia because we did not have that potential to have a great impact on the security environment and increase the level of our sovereignty.”
According to Boris Navasardyan, now there is an opportunity, and we must use that potential and opportunity to prove that mArmenia has some value in this region and in the world in general. It can implement some important programs, which will also give Armenia the tools that will enable it to contribute to the solutions of various other problems.
The EU, in fact, has interests in this region, and as Navasardyan said, the proof of this is that the EU is not going to leave the region to the whims of Russia and Turkey; it is trying to maintain a certain role here, which has been partially lost in recent years. “And Armenia has the opportunity to become the reason why an important geopolitical player like the EU will maintain its presence in Armenia and in the region. The EU does not have many such pillars, and depending on the extent to which Armenia will be able to establish itself in that role, the more we will be able to have new support programs from both the EU and the US. At the same time, no matter what contradictions and different priorities the US and the EU have, by and large, they pursue the same issues.”
Nelly Babayan
