Darbinyan: Russia`s Open Support for three main opposition forces in  Armenia only plays into Pashinyan`s hands

ArmInfo. Open support from official Russia and Russian media for the three main opposition forces competing in Armenia's upcoming June parliamentary elections  only plays into the hands of incumbent Prime Minister Nikol  Pashinyan, as stated by Armen Darbinyan, the seventh Prime Minister  of Armenia, professor, and foreign member of the Russian Academy of  Sciences, during an interview with the prominent journalist Vitaly  Dymarsky (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia-Ed.).

According to Darbinyan, an impression is being artificially created  that there is a ruling force (the "Civil Contract" party) on one side  and pro-Russian "monsters" attempting to overthrow it on the other.  "Russia— both officially and through its media outlets—is overtly  backing these three forces (the political forces of Gagik Tsarukyan,  Samvel Karapetyan, and Robert Kocharyan-Ed.), thereby creating a  conflict. For me, it is generally very strange that while Russia has  purged all oligarchs from its own political landscape, the Russian  side somehow chooses to support them in Armenia. However, this is  beneficial solely to the current Armenian authorities, because  pushing back against the old order and targeting oligarchs is very  easy, and Pashinyan excels at this completely," the professor noted.

As a result, according to Darbinyan, the impression is created of two  antagonistic forces: Pashinyan's party and the pro-Russian "three  monsters," two of which represent oligarchic structures and the third  is a former president. "In this scenario, Pashinyan clearly wins.  It's worth understanding that he's probably the best public  politician in Armenia, which is why it's so easy for him to publicly  fight the oligarchs and the previous authorities. The oligarchs have  no political narrative; they have only one goal: to end Pashinyan's  rule, and their slogans are too simple. But the Armenian people want  to move forward," Darbinyan clarified.

He considers the choice between the EU and the EAEU to be a similarly  artificial dilemma. According to the professor, Armenia can be a  member of both organizations simultaneously. "And this dilemma is  also being artificially fueled by the Russian side. And our current  Armenian politicians, for some reason, have accepted this narrative.  But there's the example of Serbia, which trades freely with both the  EAEU countries and Europe. That is, it enjoys a free trade regime.  And Armenia can also enjoy a free trade regime," the former Armenian  prime minister asserted.

Furthermore, he expressed his conviction that Armenia's withdrawal  from the EAEU cannot be discussed either legally or economically, as  it is a founding member of the organization. "The EAEU was conceived  as a political configuration. Today, it's in serious issue. Firstly,  Turkey and the community of Turkic states are very actively advancing  their shared political, economic, and even military interests.  Secondly, China is also active in the Central Asian region, and in  this sense, it's no coincidence that the five Central Asian countries  have established their own separate platform for interaction. In  other words, a kind of reformatting of the global political space is  currently underway. Two countries—the United States and China—are  vying to divide the world in two. In other words, to subordinate a  new political space to their interests. In this sense, it's crucial  for Armenia to maintain stable and friendly relations with all  possible players. And, of course, first and foremost, with Russia,"  Darbinyan believes.

In this regard, he considered the problems with the supply of flowers  from Armenia to Russia and the Armenian mineral water Jermuk as a  political move. Darbinyan believes that the pressure on the gas issue  is equally speculative. "But Armenia voluntarily agreed to this.  Today's problems with supplies to Jermuk and flowers are an attempt  to put pressure on the Armenian authorities, as well as Armenian  voters," Darbinyan concluded.