If Armenia does not rule out provision of corridor through its territory, all states will try to benefit from this – Gevorg Ghukasyan

The Hungarian side’s claims about the development of Armenia-EU relations or the Hungarian side’s tactics in obtaining benefits from this process are, in fact, artificial, Gevorg Ghukasyan, the head of special programs of the Armenian National Committee’s international office, told Alpha News.

“In Armenia-Hungary interstate relations, diplomatic relations have not yet been fully restored. Hungarian activity in relations with Armenia is often based not on the priorities of the Hungarian state’s foreign policy but on Hungary’s obligations as a state chairing the Council of the European Union. We should look at some of its actions from this point of view. The Hungarian side’s claims about the development of Armenia-EU relations or the Hungarian side’s tactics in obtaining benefits from this process are, in fact, artificial since the current course of Armenia-EU relations is in no way to Hungary’s credit. On the contrary, Hungary has recently distinguished itself by vetoing the decisions, the implementation of which could run counter to Azerbaijan’s policy in the EU. So this activity is not due to the Armenian-Hungarian relations but rather to the obligations imposed on Hungary,” Ghukasyan said.

He stressed that Armenia should have a very strong and drastic position, stating there should be no extraterritorial corridors through its territory.

“In general, the Turkic world will try to make the most of this period of Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council, but Hungary’s influence should not be overestimated since this is a very temporary process. It is only six months, most of which have already passed.

When it comes to the issue of the corridor, in general, the political desire to connect South Asia with the European continent is present in both the EU and the United States, and even Russia, to the extent that Russia is able to control. If Armenia does not rule out the provision of a corridor through its territory, all states will try to take advantage of it. So here Armenia should have a very strict, strong, and drastic position stating that there should be no extraterritorial corridor through its territory. If Armenia tries to avoid this position and tries to say that it can delegate it to some third party, naturally, all the power centers will try to establish their control over that road. Therefore, no communication should undermine the territorial integrity of a state,” Ghukasyan concluded.