ArmInfo. The actions of the National Security Service of Armenia in relation to the Ukrainian MP contain a challenge to the sovereignty of our country and threaten the international reputation of Armenia, Stepan Grigoryan, Director of the Analytical Center for Globalization and Regional Cooperation, expressed such an opinion to ArmInfo.
On the night of May 1, Armenian border guards at Yerevan's Zvartnots airport for 2.5 hours refused to allow lawmaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Mustafa Nayyem to enter Armenia. The border guards explained to the parliamentarian that he was for a third country, without specifying which one. Nayyem himself is convinced that Russia is the third country. In the end, the lawmaker crossed the border thanks to the efforts of the staff of the Ukrainian embassy in Armenia and the organizers of the International Anti-Corruption Discussion for which he arrived in Armenia.
Grigoryan, who himself is an "undesirable person" for Russia and is deprived of access to this country, believes that Russia's problems with the United States, the European Union, other countries, its sanctions lists with the names of "undesirable" diplomats, officials and businessmen have no relation to Armenia. In the light of the Yerevan incident with the Ukrainian lawmaker, the political analyst expects that the Foreign Ministry and the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will react with negative reviews to Armenia. However, in this case, the political scientist assesses the negative reaction of Kiev as secondary. Much more damage, according to his estimates, this incident will inflict on the investment climate in Armenia. "In our country, serious changes are taking place in this area, and we expect investment to grow. One can only imagine to what consequences will lead the lack of confidence among foreign businessmen or financial institutions of various countries that they may become persona non grata for Armenia one day," he stressed.
Moreover, Grigoryan stressed that the incident with Nayyem and similar incidents in the future may negatively affect the achievement of a liberal visa regime between Armenia and the European Union planned by Yerevan. According to his estimates, such a scenario may be due to the distrust of European partners towards Armenia as a country that only partially controls entry and exit to its own territory.