ArmInfo."Prodemocratic" rhetoric will increasingly camouflage the pragmatic interests of Brussels over time, driven by with highest priority of the energy and communication capabilities of Georgia and Azerbaijan. Russian political analyst Andrei Areshev expressed this opinion to ArmInfo.
"This will not disappear anywhere, in this light, with the upcoming replacement of European Council President Donald Tusk with Charles Michel and an active interest of Brussels to interact with the countries of the Eastern Partnership. And the replacement of the first persons of the European Union will not lead to a revision of the Eastern policy of Brussels, including the Transcaucasus. It is clear that Europe is unlikely to succeed in forming a uniquely pro-Western geopolitical space in this region. However, the parade of pathos called European integration with the aim of covering the actual absence of a substantive agenda for the "Eastern partners" will undoubtedly continue, "he said.
According to a political analyst, the loud statements made by same Tusk, during the July tour in the Caucasus about supporting the "territorial integrity of Azerbaijan" were due to the desire to get rid of the Kremlin's notorious "energy monopoly". Tusk's Baku speeches were immediately picked up by Baku propaganda, causing a fair concern in Yerevan and Stepanakert.
Areshev reminded that the EU and Azerbaijan are currently in the process of actively agreeing on the Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which Baku plans to include language that directly contradicts the Artsakh people's right to a free, democratic life. Thus, the Azerbaijani authorities do not spare efforts to get the wording of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict advantageous to them from the Europeans.
"In this light, the Armenian expert community is already expressing concern about the insufficiently active position of Yerevan in upholding the principles of non-use of force and the right of peoples to self- determination as not less important than the territorial integrity of the fundamental principles of international law. The logical answer to such a political-diplomatic expansion Azerbaijan could become a competent policy of Armenia towards ensuring stable relations with Russia, the United States, individual countries of Europe and Iran. But so far all this has not been seen, "the Russian political scientist concluded.