"We are not ready to install an Armenia-Karabakh border for the sake

“We are not ready to install an Armenia-Karabakh border for the sake
of Eurasian Union”

July 25 2014

NA Republican MP, Khosrov Harutyunyan, is convinced that Armenian
accession to the Eurasian Economic Union is not due to the Karabakh
problem. “There is a necessity of conformity of regulations in trade
regimes. It is due to technical problems,” said Mr. Harutyunyan to
Aravot.am, referring to the observations by former president of
Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, that the founding members of the
European Union has put a harsh condition before Armenia: to install
customs checkpoints along entire border of Armenia-Karabakh. As said
by Mr. Harutyunyan, “To connect protraction of Armenia’s accession to
the Eurasian Economic Union to the question that Armenian faces the
inevitable necessity of installing a border with Karabakh means to
misrepresent the situation. The most interested party in Armenia’s
accession to the Eurasian Economic Union is Russia. In this economic
structure, all decisions are made by consensus, today, 1+2 formula is
operating without Armenia. Nazarbayev and Lukashenko are trying to
extort the maximum from Russia in this EU project for their own
purposes. Armenia’s accession to this structure restore the balance,
and it becomes 2+2, at least this is what Nazarbayev and Lukashenko
are thinking, and it is not beneficial to them. Therefore, Karabakh is
the most convenient opportunity for them, even though they are also
well aware that there should be no other approach for Karabakh. We
cannot endanger our national security for the sake of some integration
program. But, they are trying to hamper Armenia’s accession to the
Union by Karabakh issue, thus creating unfavorable conditions for
Russia.” According to him, drawing the Karabakh problem forward by
Lukashenko and Nazarbayev is an opportunity to acquire additional
“assets” against Russia. “They are convinced that sooner or later
Armenia will become a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, but they
think that if it is possible to acquire dividends in the meantime in
the relations with Azerbaijan, and in case of Nazarbayev, it is
Astana-Baku-Ankara line, then why they should not try doing it. I do
not think that the Karabakh conflict would ever be an obstacle in
Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Union.” To our question of whether
Russia’s silence was not a sign of agreement to preconditions
presented to Armenia, he said, it is not. “Because the problems are
solved in the backstage, by closed telephone talks and not in public
debates.” As said by Mr. Harutyunyan, Armenia’s accession to the
Eurasian Union increases the security guarantees of this structure
from the south, which Russia is trying to do. “The President of
Armenia has stated his stance about Karabakh that he ever and under no
circumstances imagines Armenia and Karabakh separate, independent, and
internationally distinguished areas. We are not ready to installing
borders between the two countries, i.e. within the same state, for the
same of accession to the Eurasian Union. Armenia is nor facing such a
problem, it is not Armenia’s task to install a border between Karabakh
and Armenia, this task is resolved.”

ARPINE SIMONYAN
Read more at:

http://en.aravot.am/2014/07/25/166168/