ArmInfo.Night events on the Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line once again demonstrated the importance of strengthening security elements. This was announced at the conference "NATO from Warsaw to Brussels: Security of People and Security Sector Reform in Armenia" on July 5, Director of the Center for Regional Studies Richard Giragosian.
According to him, the night events demonstrate the growing threat of escalation of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh. According to him, Armenia is an important partner for NATO, that is, Yerevan from the point of view of a trust partner has an important mandate of the alliance to deepen cooperation. "We are not talking about joining NATO, we are talking about the expansion and strengthening of partnership.
Armenia is known as a reliable partner and against the backdrop of Turkey's actions, which constantly brings its partners in the alliance, it is possible to take advantage of the emerging opportunities. But it must be taken into account that the strengthening of Armenia-NATO cooperation is not directed against Russia, it is not a game with zero result. Moreover, this is a good example of the fact that NATO-Russia confrontation may not necessarily affect relations with Armenia. In addition, Armenia can become a bridge in establishing a dialogue, "the analyst said. At the same time, he added that Armenia's cooperation with NATO and the EU can contribute to the expansion of Yerevan's capabilities.
He also believes that Armenia's cooperation with NATO gives the country a number of advantages, in particular, it allows to focus on military education, modernize the armed forces, opens new opportunities in terms of democracy and establishment of contacts between the army and civil society, reduces Armenia's dependence on one partner . In addition, Kirakosyan is convinced that this cooperation has allowed Armenia to move from the role of the consumer of security to the proud member of the one who provides this security to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and Kosovo.