ArmInfo.Europe's involvement in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process is impossible with Russian peacekeepers deployed 'on land', Andrey Areshev, a Russian expert in the Caucasus, said in an interview with ArmInfo.
"As an expert, I cannot understand at all how Brussels is going to do it. Also, it is absolutely unclear how European structures are going to be involved in the border delimitation and demarcation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, without any practical mechanisms 'on land' at their disposal. What is clear is only Europe's desire to establish control over both the Karabakh pace process and entire process of settling Armenian-Azerbaijani problems," Mr Areshev said.
Europe's attitude to Moscow and its interests in the post-Soviet space is not at all inspiring optimism. And the previous relative cooperation, at least within the OSCE Minsk Group, has given way Europe totally ignoring Russia. The same can be said of other regional mechanisms.
According to Mr Areshev, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan is trying to maneuver without taking sides with Moscow or Brussels, seeking to retain its seemingly stable political positions with the help of Europe's promises and money. In this context, the expert recalls Brussels' promise of Euro 2.6bln to Armenia. However, since most of the funds are loans, they will make Armenia even more dependent on the West.
"The current actions of the statesman Pashinyan and his team appear more tactical than strategic. These people go on 'patching up economic and political holes', which cannot last long for obvious reasons. And his notorious geopolitical maneuvering is being accompanied by serious reputation risks for Armenia and, primarily for Nagorno-Karabakh, which, in turn, is causing discontent and protests inside Armenia," Mr Areshev said.
