VAHAN HOVHANNISYAN: “IT IS DANGEROUS”
A1Plus.am
01/06/10
ARF Bureau member, head of the ARF faction Vahan Hovhannisyan has
noticed more disturbing provisions in Resolution 2216 adopted by the
European Parliament than the provisions that are being talked about.
First, in the resolution authored by Bulgarian Kirilov it is stated
that it is worth replacing France’s co-chair in the OSCE Minsk Group
with the European Union’s mandate.
According to Vahan Hovhannisyan, that may violate the Minsk Group’s
principle of balance.
“Time will pass and there will inevitably come a proposal to rotate
the mandate. If it is the mandate of the European Union, then why
France? It could be Britain, Spain, Germany and any other country
within the European Union that will sharply violate the balance
formed in the Minsk Group,” said Vahan Hovhannisyan who says that
may later become a reason for granting a CIS mandate to Russia and
then replacing Russia with, say, Ukraine or Kazakhstan.
“We need to make an effort to not let that happen,” Vahan Hovhannisyan
warned Serzh Sargsyan.
Another danger that Armenia hasn’t seen is that the resolution
proposes to create a Black Sea Union. Vahan Hovhannisyan noted that
that proposal already questions Armenia’s participation in the already
existing Black Sea Economic Cooperation where Armenia is trying to
protect its interests, but is unable and the current proposed union
is simply against Armenia’s interests.
“It is clear that Russia and Turkey will be the ones to promote the
Black Sea Union,” noted Vahan Hovhannisyan, recalling what close ties
between Russia and Turkey mean for Armenia.
Taking into account the government’s claims that such resolutions are
not subject to mandatory fulfillment, how realistic are the dangers?
In response, Hovhannisyan said: “There is a real danger in this
resolution.” As far as the government’s claims are concerned, he said:
“Turkey and Azerbaijan are gathering cases and that will lead to
something one day,” said Vahan Hovhannisyan.
Touching upon some of Armenia’s views on author of Resolution 2216
Kirilov, according to which Kirilov is an imbalanced person, Vahan
Hovhannisyan noted: “Kirilov is very well-balanced, smart and rather
dangerous.”
According to Hovhannisyan, there are three reasons for these
resolutions and the pressure on Armenia: first, the Armenian government
has shown many times that it is ready for concessions even at the
price of its national interests; secondly, the world sees that the
government imposes and implements any draft law or resolution with or
without the consent of the people and political parties and thirdly,
the Armenian government can take a firm stand only if it has strong
backup, but the society doesn’t the current authorities.
There will be change of power
To avoid foreign pressures, ARF faction leader Vahan Hovhannisyan
called on the government to call back its signature under the
Turkey-Armenia Protocols, come to terms with the opposition, hear their
warnings and establish justice in the country. If the authorities
don’t listen to the call, they will continue to make mistakes and
the opposition will continue to fight against them and even lead to
change of power.
“The opposition will continue to correct the mistakes and not let
them happen. If you are asking whether there will be change of power
or not, yes, the opposition will fight against the authorities,”
said Vahan Hovhannisyan.
From: A. Papazian