Armenia: Russian military outpost dreams of becoming a ‘bridge’

By Kamal Ali

Serzh Sargsyan has begun a tour of Latin American countries. This tour turned out to be a disgrace for the Armenian president.

In Argentina, the country that has the largest Armenian community outside of Armenia, Sargsyan was not received by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. He could only meet the Argentinian foreign minister and some other lower-ranking officials.

Fernández de Kirchner had no desire to waste time on a meeting with Sargsyan. She said she was too ill to meet him. 

Sargsyan had to kill time by meeting and dining with members of Argentina’s Armenian community.  

It takes a lot of time and effort to plan presidential visits long before they take place. Presidents meet with documents and agreements ready to be signed, and with speeches prepared by economic and political aides. Proposals are prepared in a way that is acceptable to the host country. It takes smartness and professionalism by diplomats accompanying a visiting president.

So what did Sargsyan go to Argentina with? He told the Argentinians that Armenia could serve as a bridge connecting the Latin American country with the Russia-led Customs Union of former Soviet republics. 

The Armenian government seems to have decided to use the same “thesis” in relations with all other countries. Sargsyan said the same thing during his visits to Austria and Georgia and in his recent meeting with French President François Hollande, according to the Yerevan-based newspaper Lragir. 

“Armenia has nothing else to say. Passengers flying from Europe to Yerevan are already handed out Russian migration cards to fill in while the Armenian Foreign Ministry is keeping mum. Armenia has literally acknowledged that it is not an independent political and economic entity. It keeps saying that it is ready to serve as a bridge between the Customs Union and other countries.

“Why do the Argentinians have to connect themselves with the Customs Union through Armenia? Does Serzh Sargsyan have anything specific to offer? His statements sound strange, particularly given that Armenia has been hanging in the balance in the past two months as its bid for membership of the Eurasian Economic Union was not accepted, and Armenia’s joining the bloc was postponed until October. Do the Argentinians have to treat statements by the president of such a country seriously? The Argentinians probably said to themselves: You (Armenians) first need to settle your issues with the Customs Union before inviting others to join.”

In the past, the Russians called Armenia a “military outpost’ because Armenia hosts a Russian military base in its second largest city of Gyumri. The military base protects Russian interests in its southernmost borders. 

Now Sargsyan is offering something that is completely different: the military outpost is dreaming about becoming a bridge that, according to Sargsyan, would connect the Customs Union with the rest of the world.

It would be interesting to see how the “Armenian Bridge” will look like given that none of its feet is anywhere closer to Argentina from other member-states of the Customs Union.

Bakudaily.az