Agenda of Armenia-West relations is more saturated, than it’s introduced: Georgia diplomat
“By continuously not participating in NATO exercises in Georgia, Armenia would start to completely isolate itself from the region,” Irakli Menagarishvili, Georgian former Foreign Minister, told 168.am, reflecting to NATO exercises to be launched in Vaziani and Armenia’s participation in it.
Note, For the first time this year Armenia will take part in NATO military exercises. The statement issued by Georgian Defense Ministry informs about this. According to Georgian Defense Ministry 11 NATO member and treaty partner countries will take part—the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Romania, Turkey, Slovenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Armenia.
Noble Partner-2017 exercises will be launched in late July, not far from Vaziani training area outside Tbilisi, under the motto “Strength in partnership”. Based on information provided by Georgian Defense Ministry, purpose of exercises is strengthening cooperation of NATO member and partner countries, deepen regional and multinational partnership, as well as strengthen Georgia’s defensibility.
Nobel Partner exercises are held in Georgia for the third time. Irakli Menagarishvili said these military exercises are the most important political and military events of the year to which NATO is seriously preparing. It attempts to enlarge geography of participation in it.
According to him it would be strange if Armenia, having rather deep cooperation level with NATO, didn’t participate in the upcoming crucial event, when, basically whole region is participating in it, and Armenia seemed to isolate itself from this cooperation due to Russia.
“This year, in fact, Armenia implements certain steps toward the West, as it realizes that the threat of getting isolated from the world isn’t far against the background of West-Russia disagreements. Armenian authorities realize that they should maintain balance, although the fact of future agreement with the EU and participation to these exercises won’t suppose balance, as those formats aren’t at all competitive with the depth of Armenia-Russia military-political current relations,” Menagarishvili said.
According to the latter by these decisions Armenia does some gestures to the West, attempting to hint that it isn’t fully in Russian orbit, by that attempting to keep financing from the EU as well, as Russia can’t support Armenia by its former volumes, EEU doesn’t provide economic benefits, and the EU grants are stable and realistic.
“I consider the reason of Armenia’s these decisions is also the fact that Armenia doesn’t receive necessary support from Russian format, I mean CSTO. This allows Yerevan to restore wider format with the West. However, Russia doesn’t have the opportunity to negatively reflect, as Armenia and Brussels are rather cautious in this.
Yerevan introduces its steps to Moscow, Brussels insists, that Yerevan decides everything, however, I believe, Armenia-West relations agenda is more saturated, than Moscow knows,” Georgian diplomat said.
He explains this impression by the circumstance that after a short period of Ukrainian crisis the sides succeeded to develop a new document, initial it, and doing it without tremors and negative Russian reflection, which no EaP country succeeded to do. He believes this speaks of Armenia-EU high mutual perception.
By Araks Martirosyan
