Kocharyan: A priori, one should not be afraid of integration  processes like the Union State

ArmInfo. I know President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko well. You can love him or not love him, respect him or not, but he always says what he thinks. This was  stated at a press conference on February 17 by second President of  Armenia Robert Kocharyan, answering a question about the possible  joining of Armenia to the Union State, as the head of Belarus  recently mentioned.

"The head of state does not always have to voice his thoughts aloud.  But for me personally, the violent reaction that took place in  Armenia was incomprehensible. In particular, we are talking about the  reaction of the current government. What Lukashenko said cannot be  compared with what Aliyev said about Armenia. The reaction of Armenia  then was equal to zero. Why are they so brave in the case of  Lukashenko? Yes, he should not have spoken about it in such a way. Of  course, in such cases it is necessary to observe correctness. But we  must to know that he said what others think. This is a fact.   Everyone thinks: " We have nowhere to go". This is the formula we are  dealing with. And now the current government is doing everything to  take root this particular way of thinking, " Kocharyan said, stating  with regret that the current government is doing nothing to change  this attitude.

As for the Union State, the second President of Armenia continued,  there are quite successful integration alliances in the world, which  many states wish to join. He cited the European Union as a good  example.  "However, the Union State of Russia and Belarus today, in  terms of integration processes, is much inferior to the European  Union. In my opinion, a priori, one should not be afraid of such  integration processes. We just need to sit  and calculate what we  will get from this, and hat what we will have to give up. " It is  necessary to make a cold calculation. Such proposals have not yet  been received. At least, this issue was not discussed with me during  my presidency. And by the way, we also did not show any initiative.  We did not consider that such a need was ripe," the politician noted.

However, according to the opinion of the second President of the  Republic of Armenia, now such processes should be treated extremely  pragmatically and on the basis of specific calculations. According to  him, since there is no proposal, it is difficult to assess.

"My vision is that if we want to follow the first path, namely, the  restoration of the position of the Republic of Armenia in the region,  then it is necessary to deepen bilateral relations with Russia. There  is no other country that would be interested in turning us into a  regional factor again. There is no other such country, and I have  already mentioned the alternative," Kocharyan said, accepting that in  this situation his answer remains incomplete.

It should be noted that the Belarusian leader in an interview with  Russian TV journalist Vladimir Solovyov Lukashenko  expressed  confidence that the new union will consist of Russia, Belarus,  Kazakhstan, Armenia and, if the right policy is pursued, Ukraine.  At  the same time, speaking about Armenia, the Belarusian leader used  quite incorrect turns. "Well, Armenia has nowhere to go. Do you think  anyone needs them?  They have seen. Nikol [Pashinyan] has seen it.,"  Lukashenko said.

Such an attitude on the part of an ally in the EAEU and the CSTO of  Belarus towards Armenia caused a flurry of criticism in the Armenian  society. 

After that, the Armenian Foreign Ministry stated that " the unique  geopolitical analyzes of the President of Belarus are intended to  serve, first of all, his own domestic political agenda and have  nothing to do with Armenia and its foreign policy."