NATO: “Armenian people have to decide”
The group of delegates representing Armenia's public and political circles invited to NATO in Brussels as part of the Public Diplomacy Program returned to Yerevan today.
The 15-member delegation included representatives of several political parties, including the ARF-Dashnaktsutiun and the ANC and the public sector, particularly the Helsinki Civil Assembly Vanadzor Office, political scientists and journalists.
During the visit, the topic of reforms being implemented as part of the Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan was discussed. The Armenian delegates met with the heads and employees of the NATO Departments of Public Diplomacy, Political Affairs and Security Policies, the divisions for Extraordinary Security Challenges and Energy, as well as Head of Armenia's Representation to NATO, Ambassador Armen Yedigaryan.
The topic of reforms being implemented in Armenia's Armed Forces was especially touched upon during the debates and interviews. NATO representatives underlined that the Armenian authorities had adopted a direction of making the armed forces meet the standards of the North-Atlantic Alliance and mentioned that Armenia should be consistent in meeting those standards.
The Armenian delegates shared their impressions of the process of reforms in the Armed Forces, raised the issues related to the current corruption in the army, the murders taking place in peace and the pressure on peaceful demonstrations in Yerevan with the involvement of the army on March 1 following the 2008 presidential elections that led to the deaths of 10 citizens.
NATO representatives voiced hope that these phenomena would be neutralized as a result of the reforms being implemented.
Issues related to the current conflicts in the South Caucasus and the integration into security systems for avoiding potential threats were discussed. As is known, unlike Georgia, whihc has refused to integrate into the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and has taken a direction to be included in NATO, Armenia has adopted the road of complimentarism. Armenia, being a CSTO-member, is in close collaboration with NATO and is implementing a number of programs the most developed of which is the peacekeeping efforts of the RA Armed Forces within the International Security Support Forces.
The NATO representatives voiced opinions that Georgia's NATO integration was inevitable and that it was a matter of time. As far as Armenia is concerned, according to the representatives, the Armenian people should determine the system that the country will choose.
