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ANALYST RICHARD GIRAGOSIAN: "CUSTOMS UNION HAS LITTLE NEW TO OFFER ARMENIA"
Hrant Gadarigian
http://hetq.am/eng/news/29150/analyst-richard-giragosian-%E2%80%9Ccustoms-union-has-little-new-to-offer-armenia%E2%80%9D.html
15:07, September 6, 2013
Lambasting President Serzh Sargsyan's recent last minute announcement
that Armenia is planning to join the Russian led Customs Union as
"closing the door to Europe, Yerevan-based political analyst Richard
Giragosian said there was still time for Yerevan to make sure the
door isn't "locked".
Giragosian, who heads the Regional Studies Center, argued at a press
conference today that the Customs Union had little new to offer
Armenia and that the country had much to lose instead.
The analyst stressed that the decision-making process itself (the
lack of prior public discourse) leading to Sargsyan's last minute
bombshell announcement reveals more about the weakness of Armenia's
internal foreign policy strategy than anything else.
He faulted the Armenian government for not being as ambitious as it
needs to be in the foreign policy sphere.
Giragosian said that the European Union and the West in general will
regard Armenia as less than sincere and competent and that, by entering
the Customs Union, the country's strategic importance will weaken.
It was never a decision of choosing between the West and Russia in
terms of Armenia's security interests, noted Giragosian, pointing out
that neither the Putin's Customs Union nor the EU's DCFTA (Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement) had anything to do with security
matters in the first place.
"I have always argued that Armenia needs to maintain its security
treaties with Russia, but the issue at hand deals with economic
orientation as well as Armenia's long-term reform process," Giragosian
said, claiming that the possibility for future democratic reforms in
Armenia has now been endangered.
The analyst, answering his own question as to who will benefit from
Armenia's entry in the Customs Union, pointed to the country's
oligarchs and the system of corruption. "By denying competition
from Europe, these are the sectors that will reap benefits, not the
population at large," Giragosian said.
He derided the claims by some that Russia was the sole guarantor
of the safety of Armenia, and thus, by extension, Yerevan couldn't
risk upsetting Moscow. Giragosian said issues of Armenia's security
and that of Artsakh, as an argument for entering the Customs Union,
were basically a red-herring.
"Armenian soldiers on the Artsakh front line are being killed by
Azerbaijani soldiers using weapons sold by Russia. What security
guarantees are we talking about? What leverage does Russia have over
Karabakh? It can't even threaten to rescind its recognition of the NKR,
because it has yet to recognize it," Giragosian noted.
He concluded his talk on a slightly upbeat note.
"To be fair, President Sargsyan signed nothing in Moscow. Hopefully,
he can maneuver his way out of this mess."
Hrant Gadarigian
http://hetq.am/eng/news/29150/analyst-richard-giragosian-%E2%80%9Ccustoms-union-has-little-new-to-offer-armenia%E2%80%9D.html
15:07, September 6, 2013
Lambasting President Serzh Sargsyan's recent last minute announcement
that Armenia is planning to join the Russian led Customs Union as
"closing the door to Europe, Yerevan-based political analyst Richard
Giragosian said there was still time for Yerevan to make sure the
door isn't "locked".
Giragosian, who heads the Regional Studies Center, argued at a press
conference today that the Customs Union had little new to offer
Armenia and that the country had much to lose instead.
The analyst stressed that the decision-making process itself (the
lack of prior public discourse) leading to Sargsyan's last minute
bombshell announcement reveals more about the weakness of Armenia's
internal foreign policy strategy than anything else.
He faulted the Armenian government for not being as ambitious as it
needs to be in the foreign policy sphere.
Giragosian said that the European Union and the West in general will
regard Armenia as less than sincere and competent and that, by entering
the Customs Union, the country's strategic importance will weaken.
It was never a decision of choosing between the West and Russia in
terms of Armenia's security interests, noted Giragosian, pointing out
that neither the Putin's Customs Union nor the EU's DCFTA (Deep and
Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement) had anything to do with security
matters in the first place.
"I have always argued that Armenia needs to maintain its security
treaties with Russia, but the issue at hand deals with economic
orientation as well as Armenia's long-term reform process," Giragosian
said, claiming that the possibility for future democratic reforms in
Armenia has now been endangered.
The analyst, answering his own question as to who will benefit from
Armenia's entry in the Customs Union, pointed to the country's
oligarchs and the system of corruption. "By denying competition
from Europe, these are the sectors that will reap benefits, not the
population at large," Giragosian said.
He derided the claims by some that Russia was the sole guarantor
of the safety of Armenia, and thus, by extension, Yerevan couldn't
risk upsetting Moscow. Giragosian said issues of Armenia's security
and that of Artsakh, as an argument for entering the Customs Union,
were basically a red-herring.
"Armenian soldiers on the Artsakh front line are being killed by
Azerbaijani soldiers using weapons sold by Russia. What security
guarantees are we talking about? What leverage does Russia have over
Karabakh? It can't even threaten to rescind its recognition of the NKR,
because it has yet to recognize it," Giragosian noted.
He concluded his talk on a slightly upbeat note.
"To be fair, President Sargsyan signed nothing in Moscow. Hopefully,
he can maneuver his way out of this mess."