OPPOSITION MP SAYS EU VIEWS ARMENIA AS RUSSIA’S “OUTPOST”, NOT INDEPENDENT STATE

Haykakan Zhamanak, Armenia
11 Feb 2014

In an article published in the Armenian Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper on
11 February, opposition MP Nikol Pashinyan commented on the changes
in EU’s policy towards Armenia against the background of a failed
session of the EU-Armenian Parliamentary Cooperation Commission held
in Strasbourg.

“The concept that Armenia is not an independent country has taken root
and even assumed catastrophic proportions in the EU,” the paper’s
former editor-in-chief Pashinyan wrote in his article. “Armenia is
perceived not as a sovereign state, but a Russian outpost,” he went
on saying.

Pashinyan also argued that the attempts by Yerevan to portray Armenia
as a more democratic country as opposed to Azerbaijan were “obsolete”.

“The comparison between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the West is not
based on the level of democracy or rule of law, but on sovereignty.

The EU perceives Azerbaijan as an independent state, even if
one of a sultanist type, which fights for its independence and
has suffered territorial losses in this fight. Meanwhile Armenia,
in their perception, is not an independent state but a tool used by
Russia to punish Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan added.

Pashinyan also accused the EU for “turning a blind eye to the rigged
elections” held in Armenia in 2008, 2012 and 2013. “They hoped that it
was an easier way for pushing forward the European integration agenda.

Up until August 2013 [before Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s
statement on the decision to join the Russian-led Customs Union],
this way seemed to be efficient indeed, but the later developments
showed that the four-year negotiations were futile,” Pashinyan said.

[Translated from Armenian]

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress