Zhamanak: EU’s ‘major stride’ in Caucasus: Pashinyan should 'speed up dialogue' with regional allies

Below is an excerpt from the paper’s editorial

The European Union and the World Bank are planning to allocate an estimated €13 billion to the six participant states of the Eastern Partnership Program until 2030, i.e. – the period covering the 11 years to come. The intended sum for Armenia is  €700 million, which will be directed to the development of the North-South corridor, with an estimated €450 million expected to go to the eextremely important section connecting the Ashtarak (Aragatsotn region) and Agarak (Syunik region). Money will be directed also to the modernization of the Meghri border checkpoint, as well as the interstate roadways connecting Georgia and Armenia . Though talking about those infrastructures’ significance is unnecessary as it is, what matters in essence is the very infrastructure-oriented component. That, predictably, deals with the European infrastructure modernization program or the EU-WB joint program - applying to the Iran-Georgia [route] passing through Armenia and notably becoming essntially attractive in a political, geopolitical and geo-economic sense. That signals a certain strategy in the European policies, outlining at least a purport or aim to develop an axis connecting Iran, Armenia and Georgia. And that - under the current conditions of complex and contradictory global developments – is unquestionably an important and significant trend for Armenia, allowing the country to be regionally flexible and proactive.

A notable moment in this context is Nikol Pashinhyan’s move to visit Georgia – shortly after his appointment to office – to meet with the country's prime minister  No doubt time is ripe for an intensive dialogues with Iran, prompting rapid efforts to arrange Pashinyan’s visit to the Islamic Republic. The joint statement by the European Union and the World Bank appears under a special light against the backdrop of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement announcing Moscow’s plan to conduct a regular trilateral summit to bring together Iran, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation. Armenia, certainly, should avoid developing antagonistic approaches to the format, focusing instead on attempts to shape a parallel regional format to engage both Iran and Russia.