The Azg newspaper published an article on the Armenian-Russian protocols on the Russian military base in Armenia. “The presence of the Russian military base in Armenia for 34 years more will reduce the effectiveness of Armenia’s foreign policy. Much has been said of the strategic damage the failed Armenian-Turkish process caused to Armenia. Armenia has three principal partners: Russia, the U.S. and EU. The last named has no mechanisms of ensuring its security, placing all hopes on NATO. The U.S. is either unwilling or unable to fill the gap, which proved evident during U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Yerevan.”

Armenia’s only ally, Russia, agreed to take up the challenge, but according to its own rules. “No doubt, the 4,000-strong military base will not be able to repel a hypothetic attack by Turkey. However, we should remember that as far back as 1995, it was the Russian flag flapping there rather than the numerical strength or military equipment, that was sobering Turkey. Azerbaijan has since been careful as well, as this adjustment of Armenian-Russian relations does not strip Armenia of its independence. On the contrary, it is an opportunity for stable development for the country. It is also additional external guarantees of Nagorno-Karabakh’s security at the highest possible level, a bilateral intergovernmental agreement free of bureaucratic flaws, as multinational organizations, including the CSTO are incriminated with it. As to those seeing threat in the extreme development of the Russian-Armenian alliance, they should not forget that Armenian laws are based on European, not Russian, models, and EU, not Russian, advisors continue working at the RA Ministry of Economy.