Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
Aug 24 2014
Garibashvili in Yerevan
24 August 2014 – 9:57pm
Susanna Petrosyan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s visit to Yerevan takes
place amid ongoing discussion about the prospects of Georgian-Armenian
relations, which started after on June 27 Georgia signed the
Association Agreement with the European Union and Armenia voiced its
desire to join the Eurasian Economic Union. There many questions
concerning their bilateral relations. For instance, no one knows how
Georgia will react to the proposal of Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan to take advantage of Armenia’s Eurasian integration and to
enter the large Eurasian market, it is not clear what Georgia thinks
about the idea of Sargsyan, according to which Georgia could become a
springboard for Armenian businessmen to enter the European market.
Observers have expressed the view that the current situation may lead
to alienation between Armenia and Georgia. Thus, according to an
analyst from the Internet media agency 1in.am, Aram Amatuni, due to
its intention to join the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia becames a
target for the West and that’s the reason for introduction of the visa
regime between Armenia and Georgia. “In this situation, the “hammer”
of the West, of course, is not a fatal blow, but the hand of Georgia
will appear periodically over Armenia. Moreover, it is not just a fad,
or revenge for cheating on 3 September. The fact is that the West is
going to hit the Russian support positions in the region,” he wrote
During the visit of Serzh Sargsyan to Georgia on June 25, both
presidents said that Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Uion
and Georgia’s decision to sign a free trade agreement with the
European Union will not undermine the economic cooperation between the
two countries. “A good test for Armenian-Georgian relations was the
war of 2008, Armenia’s accession to the Eurasian Union may not be a
problem,” said the head of the Center for Political and Legal Studies,
an expert on Georgia, Johnny Melikyan. According to him, Armenia and
Georgia are useful to each other, especially from an economic point of
view: “The importance of Georgia for Armenia is obvious – due to the
problems with Iran, we are only able to enter the world’s market via
the territory of Georgia. On the other hand, Georgia, due to its
uneasy relations with Russia, is interested in Armenia as a bridge to
the market of the Customs Union. The sides shall make every effort to
deepen bilateral economic integration, since it is based on the
interests of both Armenia and Georgia,” the expert said.
According to the head of the Armenian Government Staff, David
Harutyunyan, the Eurasian and European destinations may even
complement each other and the parties should try to use this
opportunity to stimulate the economy.
Since the early 1990s, good-neighbourly relations between Armenia and
Georgia have been based on different geopolitical poles. Since gaining
independence, Armenia has taken the path of integration with
post-Soviet structures, while Georgia has chosen the European path of
development. Despite this, in over 20 years the relationship has
remained smooth and stable. Georgia, in the economic development of
which Turkey and Azerbaijan play an important role, is trying to take
a neutral position in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Although some
Armenian experts believe that the “Mimino syndrome” is affecting
Armenian-Georgian relations, this syndrome prevents the solution of
existing problems, though both countries have so far been able to
discuss and resolve issues concerning in particular the work of the
Georgian Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the
problems of the Armenian community in Georgia.
“Our countries will not allow themselves the luxury of having a bad
relationship with each other. Armenian-Georgian relations have not
changed over the past 10-15 years, and will not change in the next
10-15 years,” said the director of the Caucasus Institute, Alexander
Iskandaryan.
In the framework of Armenia’s upcoming accession to the Eurasian
Union, the parties plan to review the existing Free Trade Agreement
and other documents, but they will try to make this process less
painful. Despite the reports of some Georgian media, the introduction
on September 1 of a visa regime for those foreigners (including
citizens of Armenia) who will be staying for more than 90 days was not
discussed during the visit of Garibashvili. Meanwhile, some Armenian
observers expressed confidence in Georgia’s intention to tighten the
visa regime with Armenia in the framework of the Association Agreement
with the European Union. It is possible that this question can be
adjusted to a lower level.
From: Baghdasarian
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/59185.html