CSTO: Growing influence  of EU, US, and Turkey on  Caucasus countries  is a mounting source of regional tension

ArmInfo.  The growing influence of the EU, US, and Turkey on the Caucasus countries will create an even greater source of tension in the region, as stated by Valery Semerikov, Deputy Secretary General of the Collective Security  Treaty Organization (CSTO, ) at the 19th meeting of the heads of the  leading units of the CIS anti-terrorism structures and the heads of  the national structures of the Commonwealth countries coordinating  the fight against terrorism and extremism.

"The level of conflict potential in the Caucasus region remains high.  I believe that the growing influence of the European Union, the US,  and Turkey on the countries of this region will create an even  greater source of tension," he said, according to TASS. "The  situation is particularly tense," he said, "on the CSTO's western  borders. The main threat from that direction comes from Europe,"  Semerikov emphasized.

In recent years, the European Union has been actively increasing its  presence in the Caucasus. An EU civilian monitoring mission (EUMA) is  deployed in Armenia, but its work has been sharply criticized in  Moscow and Baku. The United States also conducts joint military  exercises with Armenia (for example, Eagle Partner) and provides  financial assistance to diversify its security.

Turkey has strengthened its position in the Caucasus after the  Nagorno-Karabakh war, becoming a strategic ally of Azerbaijan. Ankara  is actively promoting the Zangezur Corridor project, which is  changing the geopolitical balance in the region.

Against this backdrop, Armenia has effectively frozen its  participation in the CSTO, skipped several summits, and announced a  search for new security partners. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has  openly suggested that Yerevan could withdraw from the CSTO "if  necessary."