Politician rules out anti-Armenian statements on Karabakh in EaP summit declaration

Any controversial provision on Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) in the Eastern Partnership summit declaration would signal only the EU's retreating approach to its own principles, a former nember of the National  Assembly said today, ruling out the possibility of anti-Armenian wordings.  

Speaking to Tert.am, Tevan Poghosyan, currently the director of the International Center for Human Development, attached more importance to the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement which be said is legally binding and separately addresses the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

“And that means the EU countries share those approaches. And if they did so and have already negotiated, expressing their consent and initialing and publishing the text to sign it on November 24, any attempt to act differently would run counter to that approach of theirs,” he noted.

The politician said he is confident that the Armenian diplomacy is now working also on the final text of the EaP Summit.

Asked to comment on the clauses defining the principles of territorial integrity and inviolability of borders (to which the member states express support considering its extreme signgificance for Spain, an EU member country), Poghosyan warned against identifying different conflicts with one another.“If Spain wishes to declare a certain [status] over Catalonia but that does not concern the Eastern Partnership counties in any way, that’s their own affair. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine are understandably sure to seek certain accentuations, so they are absolutely free to do so. But let everyone focus their own conflict,” he added.

Addressing Azerbaijan’s possible behavior at the summit, Poghosyan did not rule out the possibility of hostile steps. ”They will try to oppress and isolate us every single day,” he noted.  

The politician further stressed the need of serious efforts by the Armenian diplomacy to remind the EU time and again that "they are practically dealing with a country deeply immersed in corruption". “That’s our weapon. We have numerous such tools, which our diplomats must use when working with our partners in the European Union,” he said, calling for active support also by parliamentarians, NGOs and communities.

Highlighting Azerbaijan’s persistent efforts towards reaching a military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Poghosyan said he treats the declaration as a justification for the country to push ahead with its objectives.  “All they need to do to resolve the problem is to resort to military operations. So it is important to make it clear to the EU that they are thus contributing to military actions instead of assisting in conflict settlement,” he added.  

Poghosyan also shared the public concerns that the EU gives little if any attention to the EaP project. He noted that very few European parliamentarians normally attend the Euranest  Parliamentary Assembly’s conferences (bringing together members of the European Parliament and legislators from EaP countries).

“The European Union is an institution which unites different countries having different problems and trying, at the same time, to push their way forward. So the Eastern Partnership is just a project of the European Union. And they are now conducting a summit which isn’t expected to hear different countries’ problems and concens; any problem raised by Eastern Partnership countries will be considered from the perspective of their own interests. The European Union is attending the summit in an attempt to mark success in the Eastern Partnership policies they have themselves declared,” Poghosyan added.

An important moment for Armenia, he said, is the implementation of the EU-Armenia Agreement. “So we have to focus on the ways of implementing the reforms not to leave it on paper,” he added.