Never for Crimea

According to former foreign affairs minister of Armenia Alexander Arzumanyan, it is the duty of every force and every citizen concerned with the fate of Armenia to do its best for the sovereignty of Nagorno Karabakh to be sustained. Arzumanyan says, “The situation of Armenian authorities is not enviable, as they will face open pressures from Russia, as it was with the case of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.”

Alexander Arzumanyan welcomes the reaction of the Karabakh authorities to the referendum in Crimea, supporting the right to self-determination and hoping for a peaceful settlement. The ex-Foreign Minister does not rule out that there might be people in Armenia or Karabakh requesting unification with Russia like Transniestria, and this is the most dangerous prospect. “If the Customs Union is a good thing, and if Russia is concerned about Armenia, let it recognize Karabakh’s independence for the latter to join the Customs Union as an independent state together with Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Arzumanyan is hopeful that the Armenian authorities will be strong enough to explain to our strategic partners that it stems from Armenia’s interests to maintain relations with both Russia and Ukraine. He also emphasized that Crimea’s referendum shouldn’t be considered a prerequisite for Karabakh. A prerequisite should be considered the referendum in Scotland or Catalonia but not Crimea for sure.