Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan has said that the defense system of the South Caucasus region doesn’t work anymore.
“It is not Armenia damaging relations with Russia. Today Russia is simply leaving our region, trying to make it a subject of bargaining with Turkey in order to advance its economic interests,” Simonyan said Wednesday, September 7, http://News.am reports.
Simonyan weighed in on the CSTO’s readiness to send an observation mission to Armenia, reminding that the announcement came only after it became known about the EU civilian mission.
“Secondly, what is the border of the CSTO? The EU recognizes our border, but when we turned to the CSTO, what did they say? They said that the border was not demarcated. Here’s a question: if there is no such border, then where did we withdraw our troops from, according to the statement of November 9? Or another question: if they arrive, where will they stand if they declare in advance that there is no demarcated border?” Simonyan said.
When asked whether Armenia is heading towards NATO, especially since similar statements are already being heard from Europe, the NA Speaker replied: “We have one goal – we want security. We have at least two serious agreements, one of which is the Armenian-Russian one, the other is the agreement with the CSTO,” he said.
When asked what actor the authorities in Armenia want to fill that empty place with, he replied: “It doesn’t matter, as long as we can protect our people, our border. It is clear that the defense system we imagined existing in our region simply does not work today.”
As for the Rome Statute, which has already been sent to the National Assembly for ratification, Simonyan said that, in all likelihood, it will be ratified.
