Expert: EAEU should not be an instrument of pressure on Armenia on Karabakh issue

Mariana Mkrtchyan. The countries of the EAEU should respect Armenia in cooperation with Azerbaijan, including in the defense sphere. Political scientist Gevorg Melikyan stated at the round table “New Challenges and Threats for Eurasian Integration” on June 1.

According to him, building the relationship with this or that country is the sovereign right of each of the states, but one cannot ignore Armenia’s position on a number of sensitive issues. In this context, he recalled that Armenia’s allies in the EAEU Russia and Belarus sell weapons to Azerbaijan, the president of another union state Nursultan Nazarbayev read out the statement of the Azerbaijani leader at the meeting of the EAEU, which can not but cause concern. “We need to balance the partnership within this structure, the EAEU should not become an instrument of pressure on Armenia on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, moreover, the EAEU is not the platform where such a plan should be discussed at all,” the political scientist said.

At the same time, he stressed that he always opposed Armenia’s accession to the EAEU, since he considers this structure to be ineffective. In his deep conviction, since Armenia does not plan to leave the structure in the foreseeable future, it is necessary to do everything to enhance the effectiveness of this integration association. Melikyan believes that it is necessary to avoid dividing lines in general. In this regard, he recalled that, to some extent, in his opinion, Armenia’s decision on membership in EAEU was dictated from outside, however, Yerevan’s complementary policy and its interaction with other integration projects should not cause concern in the future for the partners in the EAEU. According to the expert, it is necessary to increase the transparency of the EAEU, actively involve civil society and the expert community of countries in the issues, so that the decisions taken within the framework of the organization would not be decisions made by five people. In addition, it is necessary to specify the organization vector.

In turn, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Armenia Timur Urazaeva, reacting to this speech of the expert, stressed that official Astana from the very beginning expressed its position at all levels and stated clearly that the EAEU is exclusively an economic integration project. He noted that Kazakhstan is very actively involved in solving issues within the EAEU and the expert community and representatives of civil society. For this purpose, all mechanisms have been created in the EAEU. All countries-members of the organization have the opportunity to conduct discussions on various issues at different levels, as Kazakhstan does for example, expressing its position on this or that issue. According to the Ambassador, another question is whether these mechanisms are used at the national level, that is, it is the national task to make these mechanisms work effectively.

Touching upon the geopolitical aspect of cooperation and the issue of arms deliveries to Azerbaijan, the ambassador noted that he is not going to act as a lawyer for Russia or Belarus, expressing the conviction that they are able to answer for themselves. “But I would like to remind you that Kazakhstan has repeatedly stated that having a developed military-industrial complex, nevertheless, it will not sell weapons, but at the same time, for example, Russia does this, it must be understood that” this is business, nothing personal, Russia will sell it, someone else will sell it, moreover, the ambassador said, each state has its own agenda of bilateral cooperation, including in the defense sphere, and Kazakhstan-Azerbaijan cooperation in the defense sphere is quite dynamic. “But I would like to note, that despite the fact that Kazakhstan’s production we have always refrained from taking steps in this direction.As for the letter read by our president, in my opinion, this is quite an honest position – at the start of cooperation, at the initial stage, to voice its position. going to swim a deep river with partners, then negotiate on this side of the coast.This is a preventive measure in order to honestly negotiate with partners, so as not to leave legal wagons that can be used, including the third party”. The Ambassador expressed his belief that Kazakhstan’s position is fairly honest.