Russian President Vladimir Putin raises the “price of Russia’s interests” in Armenia’s electoral process, trying to define his “red lines” in Armenia and ensure that Russia does not end up “out of the game”.

About this “Review” of 168 TV mentioned on the air of the program political commentator Hakob Badalyan, speaking about the EU’s activity in Armenia, Putin’s May 9 statements and the intensifying geopolitical competition around Armenia.

“The inaugural Armenia-EU summit is given a “historical” packaging in order to sell the European theme to the Armenian public, first of all, in an electoral sense, and the goal is very simple. Today, Armenia is important from the point of view of the construction of the “Middle Corridor”, but Azerbaijan and Turkey are much more important than Armenia in this matter for Europe, and the Europeans openly talk about it. commented Hakob Badalyan.

Hakob Badalyan drew attention to the fact that Armenia-EU joint declaration consists of 44 points, connecting it with the symbolism of the ill-fated 44-day war that paved the way for the geopolitical expansion of the European Union to the Caucasus, when the status quo that constrained the European Union in the region was destroyed, and after that the EU conducts a “policy of toast” towards Armenia, which is very clearly expressed in the text of the same joint declaration, and tries to reach a concrete agreement with Azerbaijan and Turkey to form the “Middle Corridor” purpose.

“Besides, Azerbaijan and Turkey obviously demand a high price from Europe, and Armenia plays a very big role in that price, in other words, they devote a lot of space to issues related to Armenia as a price in terms of forming the Middle Corridor or agreeing on that issue. Europe’s role here is to convince Armenia and interest in paying that price.” added the political commentator.

Hakob Badalyan emphasizes that the “pie” of the EU for Armenia is the various financial assistance in the amount of 2.7 billion euros promised from 2021.

“It is the pie that they promise to Armenia, to easily adapt to the ideas of Azerbaijan and Turkey, so that the Middle Corridor is formed, and Europe gets its share in that Middle Corridor.” comments the interlocutor.

Touching upon the question of what political footnotes or motivations Nikol Pashinyan had for not going to Moscow and not being present at the annual military parade held on May 9 in Moscow’s Red Square, Hakob Badalyan reminds that a few days before May 9, on May 4 and 5, a “European Party” was organized in Yerevan in order to provide political and propaganda support to Nikol Pashinyan during the pre-election period.

The commentator justifies his point of view by the fact that the European events, apart from the show and demonstration, did not have any substantive agenda related to Armenia, and going to the military parade in Moscow just 3-4 days after that would mean for Nikol Pashinyan to throw the entire effect of the “European Party” into the water in the propaganda sense.

“And we know that Nikol Pashinyan is trying to capitalize on the European topic for his electorate as much as possible and at the same time to expect loyalty from Europe towards the behavior he shows towards his opponents and political opposition in the internal processes, and I repeat, going to Moscow after a few days would mean throwing the whole thing into the water, and Pashinyan, citing the circumstances of the pre-election campaign, did not go to the parade.” observes Hakob Badalyan.

In this context, Hakob Badalyan also commented on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements that it would be right for Armenia to decide as soon as possible whether to join the European Union (EU) or remain a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU).

“In my opinion, the Russian president is simply raising the price of Russia’s interests in Armenia’s electoral processes, especially for the current government, and this is why I condition the fact that these topics are regularly addressed at the level of the Russian president, if we also remember the certain unprecedentedness of Putin’s opening speech at the meeting between Putin and Pashinyan on April 1st, and Russia is trying to define its red lines and its determination to pursue them։ Recently, we also see certain actions in the economic field, where Armenia’s dependence is very high.” the political commentator thinks.

Hakob Badalyan emphasizes that this behavior of Russia is due to the fact that other international actors are very directly interfering in the internal processes of Armenia, in particular, the same European Union, the United States, Turkey, Azerbaijan.

«Moreover, let’s note, recording the facts, that Russia does not express direct support to this or that power in the sense of attitude, but only announced that they are pursuing their interests, so that Russia does not appear “out of the game”“, added the political commentator.

As for the issue of Armenia’s accession to the European Union, Hakob Badalyan believes that it is a matter of the far future, if Armenia ever comes close to it, and adds his conviction that the European Union has absolutely no intention of accepting Armenia into its membership.

And the fact that Putin said that in his opinion it would be right for the citizens of Armenia to decide on this issue, for example, by holding a referendum, the political commentator notes that this is a requirement of the Constitution of Armenia, and it is clear that similar issues should be resolved through a referendum in order to remove the issue of EU membership from the field of internal political populism or geopolitical dodges.

“I think it is unrealistic to think that as long as Turkey is not a member of the EU, any Caucasian state can become a member of the EU, and Turkey is unlikely to become a member of the EU as long as France is a member of the EU, unless, of course, France renounces its state-strategic interests and becomes an affiliate of some other geopolitical project.” added the analyst.

According to Hakob Badalyan, one of the main dangers is that a “geopolitical bet” can be made on destabilization in the Caucasus, instead of establishing stability.

“And its importance for Europe is growing, and it is not at all a vague prospect that the European Union may even try to bet on destabilization here in order to advance its interests with that logic. Finally, let me repeat, that path was opened more intensively for the European Union after the destabilization in the Caucasus, after the 44-day war. Now all parties are raising the stakes, showing that they are ready to go to the end, and here we can have only one response: to increase our state and public qualities, and the possibility of this is to achieve at least a change of government on June 7.” adds the commentator.

Full interview in the video.

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