Russia closed OSCE Office in Yerevan through Azerbaijan: Ruben Mehrabyan
Ruben Mehrabyan, expert at the Armenian Center for Political and International Studies, observes Russian factor in closing of OSCE Office in Yerevan.
He told 168.am that Russia strives to eliminate all European and Euro-Atlantic organizations linked to security, security monitoring, from the post-Soviet area, “Russia closed OSCE Office in Yerevan through hands of Azerbaijan. This general process has one beneficiary. OSCE Office in Yerevan at large was neither good nor bad to Baku, and in this sense Baku’s stubbornness isn’t subject to any explanation besides what I said. In fact, we edify one thing: Baku abuses that principle of consensus by Russia’s instigation and greatly contributes to Russia. Russia doesn’t object like it didn’t, when Baku closed its OSCE office and we deal with a clearly developed tendency, that Western or related organizations are eliminated from the post-Soviet area.”
As for the statement by Kate Byrnes, Chargé d’Affaires, i.e. of the U.S. Mission to the OSCE, that they regret that Azerbaijan refused to agree to prolong the mandate if the Office doesn’t justify its activity around humanitarian demining, and that Armenia agreed with the spirit of mutual concessions, that Yerevan office put an end to its activity, she said Yerevan pursued the purpose that the Office continued functioning in Armenia and Baku formally appeared against the activity of that office and its subject of objection was that very demining program.
“On why it was against it, finally, humanitarian demining is touched upon, it’s an issue of another discussion, Yerevan said OK, in that case let the Office stay, that’s the activity causing your presence, we’ll eliminate it and let working on other issues, as OSCE office performs numerous functions. However, we saw that it’s was just an excuse for Baku.”
Touching upon implications of closing OSCE office in Yerevan, he stated the toolset of the West is rather miscellaneous, “I don’t observe any issue, that it may have any fatal after-effects, however, I see an issue, that the West, unfortunately, doesn’t have a trusted partner in Armenia on its way of developing cooperation in an alternative mode. Or it has, but not in a dimension to be able to develop that cooperation, which would have national or regional implications. We see that our authorities play a double game, that e.g. they touch upon Minsk Group format as being the only one, however, they go to a harmful trilateral meeting, which is obviously initiated by Russia for possibly alienating the Western Co-Chairs from the process or monopolizing the leverages. And it’s done only and exclusively on account of Armenia’s interests. I realize what Azerbaijan gains from this and obviously what Russia gains from this, that everything is done on account of Armenian interests.”
According to him this is an implication of Armenia’s passiveness and reflective diplomacy, “In fact, we may record that regarding reassessment, review of our security threats, in political, foreign policy dimension we didn’t learn any lesson from the April War.”
By Razmik Martirosyan
