Armenia’s natural partners are those countries that recognize Armenia’s territorial integrity and thereby reject Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia’s sovereign territory.
On March 2, Nikol Pashinyan sent a congratulatory message on the occasion of Diplomat’s Day, in which he reminded that in 1992 on that day, Armenia officially became a member of the United Nations, accepting the principles of universal values, protection of human rights and establishment of democracy as an integral part of the state ideology.
The flag of independent and sovereign Armenia was raised in front of the New York headquarters of the United Nations. “Today, when we face the most serious external security challenges, the diplomatic service must multiply its efforts to advance our state interests, protect the democracy, sovereignty, and independence of our state, contribute to increasing Armenia’s international credit, and strengthen economic ties. We should be able to assess the previous gaps and move forward to achieve our goals,” he said in his message.
Although Armenia is at the center of complex geopolitical games, our State still has opportunities to take advantage of opportunities. The hostile actions of Azerbaijan towards Armenia are most apparent. Even if Turkey does not publicly declare that it supports Azerbaijan’s policy of bringing Armenia to its knees, it is clear that Ankara is a supporter of Baku’s policy. Armenia’s strategic ally, Russia, is in a difficult situation due to the war in Ukraine.
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Somewhat isolated in Western sanctions and disdain for the West, it conducts a stricter policy with partner states, which is perhaps natural. When you find yourself in a corner, self-defense, and sometimes aggression, becomes the only way to remind yourself of yourself. No matter how surprising it sounds, this is quite a favorable atmosphere for conducting proactive policy in Armenia. Armenia can expand the number of partner states to make relations even more reliable.
We have the support of such a state; it is France. The deployment of the EU mission has already highlighted the change in the attitude of the West toward Armenia. The necessity of that mission and the imperative of security protection of sovereign Armenia must continue to be explained to both Moscow and Armenia’s enemies.
In no case the presence of this mission in Armenia should not become the subject of adjustment of West-Russia relations because the decision of sovereign Armenia on its security issue cannot become a controversial topic.
Intensive work with Moscow should be done in this direction before it is too late. Relations with neighboring Iran and Georgia should also be brought to a new level. Armenia’s diplomacy should work day and night to show the world that Azerbaijan continues to be the war-seeking side, even though they declare they have won and solved the Nagorno-Karabakh problem. In this context, criticism addressed to Azerbaijan by the civilized world should not decrease for a single minute.
And it will not hinder the official Yerevan peace agenda. On the contrary, the world needs to see who obstructs the peace agenda, how, and more importantly, for what purpose. Armenia’s natural partners are those states that recognize Armenia’s territorial integrity and thereby reject Azerbaijani aggression against the sovereign territory of Armenia and the invasion of Azerbaijani units. In this direction, Armenian diplomacy should also continue its ongoing work.
Armenia should have its conditions in the agendas of peace establishment and settlement processes with Azerbaijan and Turkey. This issue has already been internationalized, which is good because the only concessions are expected from Armenia if it remains in the format of tripartite negotiations under Moscow’s auspices.
Therefore, balanced, calculating all possible losses and advantages, it is possible to establish relations with partners in the interest of Armenia. At the same time, no matter how harsh the West’s criticism of Russia becomes, Armenia should not become a party to a new conflict. It does not mean agreeing to new and changed demands put forward by Moscow, sometimes unrelated to the needs of the documents signed by Moscow.
Attempts to provoke Armenia are already frequently noticeable. Armenia should not give in to those attempts, no matter how great the temptation is for the government to counter and even act. It is possible to neutralize provocations in another way by clearly delineating the state’s importance, role, influence, and interest, and in case of steadily proceeding along that path. Such a State’s position is considered, even by the enemies.
EMMA GABRIELYAN
“Aravot” daily, 03.03.2023
