America and Europe expect a lot from the upcoming Armenian parliamentary elections and don’t have the patience as they did during the last elections. This is what Armenian American analyst Richard Kirakosyan said during a meeting at the “Friday” club in Yerevan. According to him, there is a hazard for the cease of money flowing in based on the falsification of elections and not meeting the expectations of the West. With that said, Kirakosyan consideres this as the most important moment for the Armenian authorities: “I criticize the entire political system of Armenia”. He emphasized this mentioning that there was no need for Armenian presses to criticize him for giving a preference to Defense Minister Serge Sarkisyan. “I can say that for America, having a little stable Armenia is better than having a revolutionary Armenia. I want to clarify that I said that the evolutionary change is closer than the revolutionary change, especially since I think that America just can’t see someone like Sahakashvili sit in the big chair in Armenia. I criticize the opposition for that; I tell Demirchyan and the rest that they must have some ground to stand firm on, rather than personalizing everything. Showing your face is just as important as mentioning the names. It’s still not enough. There has to be an alternative and then I will congratulate the person who came up with an alternative,” said R. Kirakosyan. According to him, currently there is a higher demand for strong people than state activists, which may change if the political system changes. According to the analyst, pressure from abroad is not enough and it’s necessary to understand who the elite are. “If the authorities, the elite, understand that the West will not forgive Armenia is they continue doing what they do, it’s irreal to wait for any change. It’s necessary to rely on internal resources for change and not the help from abroad, the so-called “Jesus Christ from Moscow, London or Washington.” The analyst doesn’t consider Azerbaijan or Turkey as the biggest threats to Armenian national security, but rather corruption, including political corruption and lack of political education. Touching upon the signed individual activities project between Armenia and the European Union on November 14 in Brussels, R. Kirakosyan mentioned that that program is not a mandatory document; it’s simply a resolution to move forward with. According to him, the individual project agreements signed by the European Union and the Southern Caucasus countries are actually of geopolitical significance. “With those agreements, the European Union is taking one step ahead of Turkey and getting closer to Iran,” said the analyst. According to him, as of today, Georgia is the Southern Caucasus country that is moving the fastest towards the European Union. He says that Azerbaijan can be of interest to the European Union with its energy and military significance and that will also help the country to enter the Union. In that case, according to Kirakosyan, it immediately becomes realistic that Armenia is going to be isolated. He believes that in order to evade that, it’s necessary to take steps which will ameliorate the situation and not satisfy outside forces.
