Pashinyan’s course largely amounts to attempt to distance from Russia – Andrey Perla

Political scientist Andrey Perla spoke to Alpha News about Armenia’s current foreign policy and the government’s strategy in international relations and energy. According to him, the multi-vector approach proclaimed by the country’s leadership in practice leads to a dilution of national interests and a weakening of Armenia’s strategic position.

“The main problem of Armenian foreign policy under Prime Minister Pashinyan and his allies is that Armenia is trying to balance not on two chairs, but on far too many. Pashinyan’s idea that Armenia is a ‘crossroads of peace’ in practice means an attempt to remain equally distant from Turkey, Russia, Iran, the US, Europe, and Central Asia. He seeks to make Armenia both independent of all centers of power and indispensable to each of them. In theory, this sounds like a romantic vision, but in practice it results in abandoning the defense of Armenia’s own national interests across all directions,” Perla said.

According to the political scientist, this strategy is particularly evident in the sphere of strategic infrastructure and energy.

“The deeper Armenia integrates into Turkish, American, and European policies, the less, critics argue, remains of an independent national agenda in its foreign course. This is visible not only in the humanitarian sphere. Education policy is one example, but an even clearer illustration is the situation surrounding the nuclear power plant and the nuclear industry as a whole. The Soviet-built plant could have been modernized by Rosatom relatively cheaply and with predictable technical outcomes. Instead, the option under consideration is the construction of modular nuclear plants—presented as ultra-modern and American. The nuance, however, is that the US has not yet supplied such plants to anyone; they remain at the project stage, whereas Russian technologies are already in operation. Does Armenia have the right to purchase technologies from the US? Certainly. But is there strategic sense in subordinating the country’s energy system to the US? That is debatable. Critics believe the main motive is the desire to distance Armenia as much as possible from Russia. Viewed from this angle, Pashinyan’s course largely amounts to an attempt to move away from Russia without offering an equivalent alternative,” Perla concluded.