Foreign influence undermines Armenia's sovereignty Expert opinions

During a recent visit to Armenia, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya confirmed that the U.S. will have direct oversight over the Armenian government.

In a conversation with Armenian media, Zeya revealed that a U.S. military representative will be stationed within the Armenian Ministry of Defense. She described this as a "long-awaited event" that "points to the historic fact of transition to a new stage of strategic partnership in Armenian-American relations."

How is Moscow responding to this development? A Caliber.Az correspondent reached out to Russian pundits for their perspectives.

According to Nikolay Mezhevich, Executive Director of the Andrei Gromyko Association of Foreign Policy Studies, Doctor of Political Science, and Professor, the presence of foreign representatives, even without diplomatic status, in the government of a country is not uncommon in the 21st century. This phenomenon is quite typical for Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

"We have seen this process develop in the 21st century in Ukraine. We remember that a similar phenomenon, though on a much smaller scale, occurred in the Russian Federation at the very beginning of the 1990s. What does this lead to? In my opinion, it leads to desovereignization. Because my understanding of the theory and practice of international relations is that only citizens of Armenia should work in the government of the Republic of Armenia, and even the involvement of representatives from the Armenian diaspora in such structures is not always appropriate.

By the way, in the United States, it is categorically impossible for a citizen of another country to work in government structures. Therefore, it is worth noting that the news of American and French presence in the Armenian government and state structures is alarming, and it does not align with either the interests of the Armenian people or the interests of the countries in the region.

Moreover, in the context of global security, this is also a rather unfortunate phenomenon. Of course, no one in the Kremlin would describe such news as positive. It is another matter that an immediate, one-time reaction to Yerevan's actions should not be expected, but it will undoubtedly occur," noted Mezhevich.

According to Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a leading expert at the National Energy Security Fund and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Americans are trying to increase their influence over Armenia, while Armenia is attempting to portray the situation in such a way that the Americans and the French are replacing Russia’s influence, and this will supposedly be sufficient to address both the strategic issues and specific aspects of the country’s problems.

"But I believe this approach will not work, if only because France and the USA are far from the South Caucasus, and therefore their influence cannot be as extensive as that of Russia or other regional states. Moreover, this demonstrative alignment of Armenia with America might not be well received in the USA itself: it could 'collide' with a potential return of Trump to power, and besides the Armenian lobby and diaspora in the USA, there are forces that are keen on actively cooperating with Azerbaijan. Such a course may be met with misunderstanding in certain political circles in the USA.

In Russia, this news will certainly not be well received. Moscow, as is known, views foreign interference in the affairs of neighbouring states very negatively, so this is a very risky move for Armenia; Yerevan is playing with fire," said Mitrakhovich.