“The goal of the EU summit in Yerevan is to pull Armenia away from Russia”: Bogdan Bezpalko

Bogdan Bezpalko commented to Alpha News on the European Political Community Summit in Yerevan.

“I did not expect the summit itself to be held in Armenia. This is already quite a significant tool to try to pull Armenia away from Russia and withdraw it from the alliances it is part of. Unfortunately, everything here depends on the political will of the Armenian elites, they can do this. Armenian society is currently tired and does not want conflict, and it will welcome any hope—even the most illusory, of improving its situation in a pragmatic, practical, even material sense. Of course, such a break in relations would lead to a decline in Armenia’s economy, because leaving integration alliances linked to Russia would effectively mean that Russian markets would close to Armenian goods and that the labor market would also become inaccessible to Armenian citizens. As a result, a large share of goods produced in Armenia and sold in Russia would begin to accumulate in warehouses,” Bezpalko said.

According to the expert, holding the summit in Armenia serves as a tool of geopolitical reorientation.

“As I understand it, this is already happening with Jermuk mineral water. There are quite a few such products. And, of course, they are unlikely to be sold in EU countries. Emmanuel Macron is, of course, a remarkable politician, he arrived and spoke, but it is unlikely that Armenian mineral water will be allowed onto the French market. So political elites may take steps toward Armenia’s geopolitical reorientation, but this will lead to serious economic difficulties. That’s essentially it. The summit here is just one of the tools of that reorientation,” Bezpalko added.