Susanna Petrosyan. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili's visit to Yerevan takes place amid ongoing discussion about the prospects of Georgian-Armenian relations, which started after on June 27 Georgia signed the Association Agreement with the European Union and Armenia voiced its desire to join the Eurasian Economic Union. There many questions concerning their bilateral relations. For instance, no one knows how Georgia will react to the proposal of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to take advantage of Armenia's Eurasian integration and to enter the large Eurasian market, it is not clear what Georgia thinks about the idea of Sargsyan, according to which Georgia could become a springboard for Armenian businessmen to enter the European market.
Observers have expressed the view that the current situation may lead to alienation between Armenia and Georgia. Thus, according to an analyst from the Internet media agency 1in.am, Aram Amatuni, due to its intention to join the Eurasian Economic Union, Armenia becames a target for the West and that's the reason for introduction of the visa regime between Armenia and Georgia. "In this situation, the "hammer" of the West, of course, is not a fatal blow, but the hand of Georgia will appear periodically over Armenia. Moreover, it is not just a fad, or revenge for cheating on 3 September. The fact is that the West is going to hit the Russian support positions in the region," he wrote
During the visit of Serzh Sargsyan to Georgia on June 25, both presidents said that Armenia's accession to the Eurasian Economic Uion and Georgia's decision to sign a free trade agreement with the European Union will not undermine the economic cooperation between the two countries. "A good test for Armenian-Georgian relations was the war of 2008, Armenia's accession to the Eurasian Union may not be a problem," said the head of the Center for Political and Legal Studies, an expert on Georgia, Johnny Melikyan. According to him, Armenia and Georgia are useful to each other, especially from an economic point of view: "The importance of Georgia for Armenia is obvious - due to the problems with Iran, we are only able to enter the world's market via the territory of Georgia. On the other hand, Georgia, due to its uneasy relations with Russia, is interested in Armenia as a bridge to the market of the Customs Union. The sides shall make every effort to deepen bilateral economic integration, since it is based on the interests of both Armenia and Georgia," the expert said.
According to the head of the Armenian Government Staff, David Harutyunyan, the Eurasian and European destinations may even complement each other and the parties should try to use this opportunity to stimulate the economy.
Since the early 1990s, good-neighbourly relations between Armenia and Georgia have been based on different geopolitical poles. Since gaining independence, Armenia has taken the path of integration with post-Soviet structures, while Georgia has chosen the European path of development. Despite this, in over 20 years the relationship has remained smooth and stable. Georgia, in the economic development of which Turkey and Azerbaijan play an important role, is trying to take a neutral position in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Although some Armenian experts believe that the "Mimino syndrome" is affecting Armenian-Georgian relations, this syndrome prevents the solution of existing problems, though both countries have so far been able to discuss and resolve issues concerning in particular the work of the Georgian Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the problems of the Armenian community in Georgia.
"Our countries will not allow themselves the luxury of having a bad relationship with each other. Armenian-Georgian relations have not changed over the past 10-15 years, and will not change in the next 10-15 years," said the director of the Caucasus Institute, Alexander Iskandaryan.
In the framework of Armenia's upcoming accession to the Eurasian Union, the parties plan to review the existing Free Trade Agreement and other documents, but they will try to make this process less painful. Despite the reports of some Georgian media, the introduction on September 1 of a visa regime for those foreigners (including citizens of Armenia) who will be staying for more than 90 days was not discussed during the visit of Garibashvili. Meanwhile, some Armenian observers expressed confidence in Georgia's intention to tighten the visa regime with Armenia in the framework of the Association Agreement with the European Union. It is possible that this question can be adjusted to a lower level.
