Armenia should develop military cooperation with all, opposition MP says

YEREVAN, February 2. /ARKA/. Armenia has been cooperating with NATO for many years, and this cooperation has not been an obstacle to its strategic partnership with Russia and the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the chairman of the opposition parliament-represented Bright Armenia party Edmon Marukyan in an interview with the Armenian service of the RFE/RL in response to a question about whether Armenia needs military cooperation with other countries, except Russia.

"Armenia is the only member of the CSTO that has such deep relations with NATO, which has never harmed our strategic cooperation and partnership with Russia," he said.

Marukyan noted that this cooperation with NATO should be continued, but in the past three years the Armenian authorities have been passive in this sense.

"The impression is that Armenia can buy weapons from only one country. This does not correspond to reality: we bought weapons from other countries as well. There is no contradiction here," he said.

Speaking about his party's foreign policy vector, Marukyan said that it is to pursue a foreign policy that best meets the national interests of Armenia.

"Today Armenia is a member state of the CSTO, therefore, in terms of ensuring Armenia's security, the CSTO and the Russian Federation play the role of a strategic partner. At the same time, Armenia has an agreement with the EU," he said.

Marukyan believes that there is an opportunity to build very good relations with the EU, USA, Iran, China and Arab countries without harming security cooperation.

Armenia's relations with NATO started in 1992, when it joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. This forum for dialogue was succeeded in 1997 by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together all Allies and partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Bilateral cooperation began when Armenia joined the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program in 1994.

Armenia is an active contributor to NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Armenia’s program of cooperation with NATO is set out in an Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), which is jointly agreed every two years.

The wide range of the IPAP means that Armenia cooperates with NATO not only in the defense sphere, but also on political and security issues, democratic standards, rule of law, and the fight against corruption.-0-