Past: When politics is situational and 'based on declarative statements'

Below is an excerpt from the paper’s editorial

Armenia is now in a very complicated geopolitical context amid the continuing blockade by Turkey and Azerbaijan, which are investing considerably big resources in an effort to bloc access to major regional projects promising an economic progress to our country.

And that very fact is now being used as a leverage of the Turkish-Azerbaijani pressure upon Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh], the situation being unique also for other the neighbors - Georgia and Iran.

With Armenia maintaining its goodneighborly relations with Iran, the US pressures against that country now appear to be a strong impediment to a deepening bilateral partnership.

As for Georgia, though our friendly relations still continue, there are still certain obstacles when it comes to partnership issues (in the face of the disputed Georgian-Russian relations and Georgia’s active engagement in the implementation of Turkish-Azerbaijani projects).

Armenia continues to maintain its strategic alliance with Rusia, a country with which it does not practically share any land border.

Russia’s role in the region is big indeed – whether politically or economically or in terms of national security issues; hence no surprise at all that Armenian-Russian cooperation is deepening especially as part of such international organizations as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Collective Security Treaty Organiztion (CSTO), etc.

After the government change, however, elements of uncertainty and distrust are being observed on the Armenian-Russian agenda.

The European Union, which remains a key role-player and economic donor in the region, also demonstrates a considerable interest in the South Caucasus.  

And as part of its European Neighborhood Program, the EU is attaching an increasing priority to Eastern Partnership, a joint political initiative aimed at the deepening and strengthening of the relations between the European Union, its member states and six eastern neighbors – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. Armenia, being an EAEU member state, has managed to secure a progress also in its relations with the EU, the signing of the 2017 Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) being the best example to that effect.

The ratification process by the EU is still incomplete, whereas the agreement could have entered into effect long ago had the necessary work been carried out in time.

Also the United States, the world’s top economic leader, is paying a special attention to our region. Though Armenia is trying indeed to continue the cooperation with the United States in a range of areas, those relations are not being realized to their full potential.

Members of the current government do not succeed in their efforts towards establishing contacts with high-ranking administration officials. Additionally, China has turned increasingly active in the region over the past period with its Belt and Road Initiative, the revitalized version of the Silk Road program connecting Europe with China.

Armenia’s task in the current circumstances is that of a special role-player in the porgram to encourage China to embark on the realization of major projects in our country.

Hence what the Armenian authorities are required to do at the moment is to demonstrate a great flexibility to push ahead with their foreign policy programs - while avoiding to be at the intersection of the superpowers’ conflicting interests.

Over the past one and a half years, however, [Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan has fallen short of the target to propose a specific foreign policy concept potentially provoking the foreign partners’ interst to initiate projects of strategic importance.

Pashinyan, evidently, has difficulty in orienting himself in foreign policy matters. And this is actually why his foreign policy choices are situational and based on declarative statements.