POLITICAL EXPERT: NAZARBAYEV’S STATEMENT DEMONSTRATES DOUBLE STANDARDS IN ESTABLISHMENT OF CUSTOMS UNION
by Ashot Safaryan
Tuesday, December 24, 19:27
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s statement demonstrates double
standards in establishment of the Customs Union, Hmayak Hovhannisyan,
Chairman of the Armenian Association of Political Scientists, has
told ArmInfo’s correspondent.
To note, at the Moscow Session of Eurasian Economic Council on 24
December Nazarbayev said his country is ready to sign the “road map”
on Armenia’s joining the Customs Union but with special opinion as
it requires to explain the problem about the borders of the Customs
Union because of the Karabakh conflict.
Hovhannisyan thinks that Nazarbayev’s objections are unacceptable. He
thinks that it is necessary to work out a single stance within the
Customs Union. “We know that besides Nagorno-Karabakh, there are
other non-recognized or partly recognized formations – Transnistria,
Abkhazia, South Ossetia. And if there are no customs obstacles in
the way of their full integration into the Common Economic Space,
it is not clear why there may be any objections related to Karabakh
and its full participation in the Common Economic Space. Artsakh has
established itself as a state, it has elected authorities and can
hope to enjoy the same standards”, says Hovhannisyan. “Why doesn’t
Kazakhstan, which has failed to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
advance any claims against them?” Hovhannisyan wonders.
He recalls that Armenia is the guarantor of the NKR’s security,
including the NKR’s economic security, and it is mentioned in the
national security concept of Armenia. According to Hovhannisyan,
earlier Russian Vice Premier, Russian President’s Representative
to Transnistria Dmitry Rogozin unequivocally said that Transnistria
will join the Common Economic Space if Moldova signs an Association
Agreement with the European Union. “A question arises. Will Armenia,
which has failed to sign the Association Agreement and has chosen
the Customs Union, lose the NKR?! The situation is rather absurd”,
Hovhannisyan says. He supposes that the President of Kazakhstan made
an attempt to please Ilham Aliyev.
In this context, Hovhannisyan considers the stance of the Byelorussian
President to be more grounded. Earlier, when asked by ArmInfo,
Lukashenko did not rule out possible provision of a special status
to non-recognized or partly recognized state formations within the
Customs Union.
In the meantime, Hovhannisyan shares the opinion that each of the
Customs Union members is trying to gain certain dividends from Moscow.
“The Customs Union is not the USSR. Here the relations are very tough
and meet the spirit of the 21st century, and each country is trying
to get the most out of the offered formats of cooperation. There may
be disputes and tough haggles. Our authorities could have obtained
essential benefits from these haggles if they had not ignored the
public opinion. The authorities of Armenia are going blind. They
deprive themselves of an important resource – the public opinion,
which could have strengthened their stance during the negotiations.
How has Yanukovich played the Maidan card?! He has preserved all the
elements of Ukraine’s sovereignty in the relations with Moscow and
at the same time he has got the most out of it. Before the recent
developments in Kyiv, the Russian authorities unanimously said that
they were not going to help Ukraine if the latter failed to choose
the Customs Union. But today Russia has decided to provide Ukraine
with a 15 bln USD loan. So, Yanukovich has managed to receive immense
financial support on no enslaving conditions (unlike Armenia’s gas
agreement with Russia, for instance). If the country’s authorities
ignore their own citizens, international partners and allies start
ignoring these authorities”, he says.
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