The withdrawal of the Russian military base will be a new adventurism for Armenia. Opposition “Armenia” bloc MP, opposition ARF Dashnaktsutyun Party member Ishkhan Saghatelyan, stated this at a press briefing on Wednesday.

“The military base has a specific mission. And in these geopolitical conditions, leaving Armenia defenseless at the jaws of enemies is an adventurism for the country; this will lead to new security threats. One cannot go for this adventurism, as well as exit the EAEU,” Saghatelyan said.

The opposition lawmaker recalled that Armenia’s possible exiting the EAEU will not lead to its EU membership, and possible exiting the CSTO will not lead to NATO membership. Exiting without any alternative is an adventurism, Saghatelyan repeated.

When asked what the Russian military base in Armenia had done for the country, the opposition MP got upset and asked: “In your opinion, if the military base had not protected Armenia’s borders for the past 20 years, what would Turkey have done?”

Saghatelyan said that everything starts with these assessments: are Turkey and Azerbaijan a threat or not?

“Have they committed genocide in our homeland twice? Do they have ambitions or not? They have not only territorial claims, but also ambitions towards the entire Armenian identity. Yes, they are a threat, and our capabilities are not sufficient to protect the territorial integrity [of Armenia]. Armenian-Russian allied relations are important,” Saghatelyan noted.

Responding to the question whether the topic of withdrawing the Russian military base from Armenia is an attempt to speculate in the event of the country being expelled from the EAEU, Saghatelyan noted that everything is very transparent: The West has put before Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan the goal of withdrawing the Russian military base from Armenia and in return turns a blind eye to his numerous violations.

“It is obvious that he [i.e. Pashinyan] is faced with the task of withdrawing the military base. But [in Moscow] they did not give in to blackmail attempts and said, ‘If you want, take [it][ out,’” Saghatelyan noted.

The Armenian opposition legislator did not rule out the withdrawal scenario.

“But how are we going to solve security issues? As soon as you tell the truth, accusations of being a ‘fifth column’ immediately begin. Anti-Russian sentiments in the country have reached a fairly high threshold, but the [Armenian] people should know what risks this entails and what the consequences may be,” the Armenian opposition politician said.