ArmInfo. Membership in the Union State of the Russian Federation and Belarus will lead to the loss of a number of rights by Armenia. A similar opinion was expressed to ArmInfo by head of Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation Stepan Grigoryan.
"I personally assess such a prospect as a very real threat to the sovereignty and statehood of Armenia. By joining the Union State, we will lose the right to fight for the rights of the Artsakh Armenians, to fight for the international recognition of the Genocide, the right to speak with the world about the aggression of Azerbaijan, in the event of another invasion of their Armed Forces on our territory. Our people are still reassured by the thought of protection from the Russian Federation, but the last year and a half have shown that such hopes, to put it mildly, are not fully justified," he stressed.
In this light, assessing the prospect of Armenia's membership in the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the political scientist noted that such a scenario threatens the existence of Armenians as a nation. He also emphasized the unconstitutionality of such a step, recalling that the current Constitution of Armenia does not provide for the rejection of any elements of sovereignty.
In this light, commenting on the statement of the Belarusian President Lukashenko, which caused an extensive public negative resonance in Armenia, Grigoryan described his emphases as a serious challenge for Armenia. In this context, the political scientist called on the Armenian government for a symmetrical response to this statement. In his opinion, the response of the country's Foreign Ministry did not reflect the existing realities. And his softness creates the impression that Lukashenko was right and nobody really needs Armenia today. On February 7, in an interview with Vladimir Solovyov, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, commenting on the possibility of Armenia joining the Union State of Russia and Belarus, said that Armenia "has nowhere to goyou think anyone needs them? They have seen. Nikol [Pashinyan] has seen it," he said. On February 8, Belarusian Ambassador Alexander Konyuk visited the Armenian Foreign Ministry in this regard.
"I am personally inclined to link such behavior of Mr. Lukashenko with a mistake made at the time by the Prime Minister of Armenia Pashinyan, who hastened to congratulate him on, to put it mildly, a very dubious victory in the last presidential election in Belarus. Back then, I criticized him for this, pointing out the inadmissibility of legitimizing this action, which has nothing to do with the expression of the people's will. And today we are reaping the fruits of our own unscrupulousness. I am convinced that in this way Pashinyan tried to change Lukashenko's attitude towards Armenia. But even then it was clear that the Belarusian leader would never change it," he said.