Epress.am News from Armenia
When it comes to the presidential election in Russia, Armenia has to notice and analyze two facts: a serious opposition has emerged against president-elect Vladimir Putin, while the reactions from the West on the fraudulent election are quite mild, said Director of the Yerevan-based Regional Studies Center Richard Giragosian at a press conference in the Armenian capital earlier today.
The first lesson from the Russian elections, according to the political analyst, is that it’s dangerous to ignore the public demand for change. The second lesson, in the wake of Russian opposition forming, is that Armenia’s elections will become even more important.
The May (parliamentary) elections will be the most important in Armenia’s history and they have to be the best. It doesn’t matter what the opposition or the ruling authorities say, if the May elections are no different from the previous elections, there will be great pressure on Armenia — these are the first nationwide elections after the events of Mar. 1, 2008, he said.
Putin’s election will bring tactical changes also to the issue of settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Unlike outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Putin won’t spend a lot of time with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev — he will pressure the parties. This pressure won’t work on Armenia — Sargsyan is not (former president Robert) Kocharian. Sargsyan doesn’t have cordial, personal relations with Putin, which is good for Armenia. But it should also be noted that there’s a tendency to normalize relations between Azerbaijan and Russia, Giragosian said.