Armenian foreign policy intentions unclear – paper
Aravot, Yerevan
6 May 04
Text of Tigran Avetisyan report by Armenian newspaper Aravot on 6 May
headlined “An unclear priority”
The foreign policy priorities of Armenia, which according to Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan have been clarified and gained
general shape during the Yerevan consultations of the representatives
of the Armenian Diaspora organizations and Armenian ambassadors, make
us thoughtful. These priorities are euphonious and are not a subject
of argument in the sense of their content. But it is unclear, what
they were taking into account when mentioning the priority directions
of the foreign policy, when contradictory processes are developing in
the country guided by the authorities.
So, let us name the priorities: security, development, integration to
Europe and the Karabakh issue. Sometimes even the state top officials
do not make a secret of the fact that the army is not top of our
security guarantees, and in f act has only a task to hold Azerbaijan
in check. But it changes nothing either they make a secret or not, as
it is obvious truth. It is also obvious that Armenia’s security may be
guaranteed only if it is a fully-fledged member of any international
security system.
There is no need to present in detail the prospects of Armenia’s
“preferences”. Simply the security, mentioned by Oskanyan in this
context, needs no additional explanation. It is not also clear what
they mean by saying development. If they mean economic development,
in that case they probably suggest to our diplomats and influential
Diaspora Armenians to promote foreign capital import and
investments. This is a kind wish. But we cannot but notice that
creation of an attractive investment atmosphere is not a problem of
diplomats at all. And to persuade rich men to spend money in a
country, the economy of which is literally lost in corruption, means
to put our ambassadors in an awkward situation. Here is a situation
which even the recent setting-up of a department in the Armenian
prosecutor’s office to fight corruption, cannot save.
The most mysterious of all the Oskanyan’s priorities is integration
into Europe especially against the background of the recent events. We
cannot understand how our state functionaries imagine Euro-integration
, when in case of its weakest manifestation, the power propaganda
machine immediately calls them national betrayal, and direct orders of
the Council of Europe are ignored by state functionaries. In this case
the Armenian diplomatic corps seems to have a task to disseminate
disinformation about Armenia being a democratic country. And finally
the Karabakh issue. Let only say that it is directly conditioned by
the above mentioned three priorities.