“Serzh Sarsgyan would receive more from Russia if he hadn’t played such games”
Our guest is the chairman of the Forum of the Armenian Union of Europe (FAUE) Ashot Grigoryan
-Mr. Grigoryan, what is your opinion of the Moscow statement of the Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan about Armenia’s willing to join the Eurasian Union? Was this a surprise of for the Armenians of the FAUE?
-It would be wrong to say whether this statement was a surprise or an expected one for the Europe Armenians because the Armenians living here various preferences and backgrounds. I can speak on behalf of the FAUE and it was no surprise for us. We consider this the biggest mockery. It was clear to all of us but why was this done with casino rules? Why was the destiny of our nation put on roulette? And most importantly, why would we make Europe so angry and disappointed with us? There are many politicians in Europe, who think that Armenia should be pro-Russian because the interests of Armenia totally match the ones of Russia. Secondly, if Armenia was to develop its relations with Karabakh it would have to refuse Karabakh because we have the precedent of Serbia. In order to access the EU this country should forget about Kosovo for good. How can there be a different way for us? But why would we make Putin to slap and beat us with a stick before we would do what we were supposed to do? I am talking about Russia’s willingness to sell military hardware to Azerbaijan worth 3 billion USD and the unexpected visit of Putin to Baku.
This was truly a terrible and unfavorable step for us. Why would we make Putin mad? Couldn’t we just give our consent in a nice and noble way? Serzh Sargsyan stated that he was able to have certain benefits from Russia but it is not true. He would receive more from Russia had he played a more straightforward game with Putin. Sargsyan is trying to get something from Russia and this is natural but today it’s clear that he won’t be receiving anything from Russia because it now has a reputation of an unreliable partner. Everybody is laughing at this step. They all consider it unprofessional and many analysts even claim that they are afraid to write any articles because the Armenian president might change his mind again. Of course, this is a joke but in reality the situation is pretty gloomy.
-Thus, you rule out the pre-signing of the Association Pact on part of Armenia in Vilnius in November, don’t you?
-Seemingly this step is not even expected by the Armenian president because he doesn’t even know what the next step is going to be. In politics Serzh Sargsyan is acting based on Russian roulette rules and when the roulette spins he doesn’t know where it’s going to stop. Professional diplomats undoubtedly do not conduct such a policy.
-The EU commissioner Stephen Fuller stated that under these circumstances it would be hard to imagine Armenia signing the Association Pact. If this process fails eventually, what can we expect from Europe – cut of investment volumes, breakdown of ties? What can we expect?
-Indeed, we won’t be receiving what we have been dreaming to get from Europe. It means we cannot expect billions of investments, grants or other kind of assistance such as the ones invested in Slovakia. Since it became an EU state in 2002 everybody is surprised at how developed Slovakia has become. In this country a miracle took place when it entered the EU and now its capital city Bratislava looks better than the neighboring Vienna. If you go to the villages of Slovakia you will see that the wealth is evenly distributed in the country. We were deprived of this perspective. It is natural that this perspective won’t be realistic for Armenia for a long time. On the other hand, Armenia is taking wide strides toward the direction of becoming a Russian colony – that is the total loss of independence. We, the European Armenians are very afraid of this threat. We held the 15th anniversary congress of FAUE on September 6-7, which hosted representatives from 23 European states and Armenia and Israel. We have discussed the internal political situation in Armenia, which we named “tragic” and made abrupt decisions aimed at saving Armenia from this situation.
-You mentioned that having taken into account the Karabakh conflict the best thing for us is to join the customs union. But what is expected now? It is not yet clear that Armenia is a member of the customs union. Will there be checkpoints on the border with Karabakh? In this case, to what extent is the Karabakh secured taken care of?
-In this regard, I am a little optimistic and hope that in this regard there will be certain calculations and I am hopeful that the authorities of Russia and Armenia will find optimal solutions for the NKR.
-Don’t you have a fear that there will be surprises again? We have already had a historic precedent when during the Soviet era Karabakh was annexed from the territory of Armenia and given to Azerbaijan. What if we witness such surprises now?
-Such developments are a little implausible because in this case by losing everything Armenia will gain nothing. At least we can expect this much. I have hopes in this regard but let’s see what will happen. However, we are more often mistaken in our predictions and calculations because of the president of our country. This is not a normal professional diplomacy. That’s why I avoid making any prediction.
By Gayane Khachatryan
