Robert Kocharyan: Armenia must restore its army in the shortest  possible time, otherwise the military- political alliance with Russia  is meaningless

ArmInfo. There is no guarantee that our borders are properly protected. The second President of Armenia Robert Kocharian stated this at a meeting with his  supporters.  "In reality, borders, and the security system in  general, should be protected by army, the Armed Forces.

Today the authorities (of Armenia - ed. note) say that Russia, in accordance  with a bilateral agreement and as a military-political ally, has  obligations to protect us. But here the question arises, what does a  military- political ally mean? ", Kocharyan asked.

According to him, the wording of a military-political union implies  the presence of an army by both sides, the signing of an agreement  with the involvement of the armies of Armenia and Russia.  "So,  within the framework of the CSTO, all member states participate in  this alliance with their own army.  NATO members are obliged to spend  2% of their GDP on defense. The alliance consists in this. If your  army is not combat-ready, if your army is in the state in which ours  is today, then you need to admit that you cannot defend yourself and  ask for help. Then, change the document and ask for a protectorate,  "Kocharian said.

According to the second president's conviction, Armenia must restore  its army in the shortest possible time, otherwise this  military-political alliance is meaningless because one of the parties  fails to fulfill its obligations.

The politician drew attention to the fact that 6 months have passed  after the war, but so far, not a single hearing in the parliament has  been held on the issue of Armenia's security, not a single decision  by the government has been made on the part of the RA Armed Forces.

He recalled that last summer, the so-called concept of national  security of the Republic of Armenia was adopted, where there was no  mention of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). According to him, a war broke  out a few months later, but no changes were made to this document.  Kocharian once again stressed that the current authorities are not  taking any steps on the issue of the country's security.  "Yes, today  Russia has obligations under the treaty, but if today we do not  fulfill our part of the obligations or are not able to do it, then a  big question arises - is this security guaranteed or not. And that is  why today the President of Azerbaijan makes such statements , because  he sees the state of Armenia, and feels free in his actions, it  tramples on the dignity of our people and the country as a whole,  "the second President of the Republic of Armenia believes.

When asked if Armenia could lose Syunik even before the elections,  Kocharian replied that the worst thing is to rule out threats.

"Do you remember that even before the war, prominent figures of the  ruling power ruled out Turkey's participation in this war, don't you?  Literally, a month before the war. What happened? We are in a  situation where every day we must accept the presence of this threat  and take steps to neutralize this danger. This is a state task.  Sometimes, when I get acquainted with the issues on the agenda of the  government or parliament, I am amazed. The issue of priorities is  completely absent in Armenia, "he said, adding that the Armenian  authorities are not able to determine the most pressing issues, that  is why nothing was done for 6 months.

Kocharian stressed that today there is a risk of loss, which requires  the mobilization of the entire state resource, the entire Armenian  nation.