Armenian expert: "Speculations that Russia wants to merge our armies are meaningless"

Following the talks two weeks ago, the defense ministers of Armenia and Russia have announced the completion of preparations to sign an agreement on the establishment of a Joint Group of Forces. Political scientist Arman Gevorgyan answered Vestnik Kavkaza's questions about the group's tasks, its prospects and value to both countries.

- What will the Joint Group of Forces give to Yerevan, preliminary agreement on the creation of which was achieved between Armenia and Russia in 1998?

- According to estimates of the US and NATO, the Russian army is the world's second strongest army after the US. I think that interaction with the world's second strongest army and holding joint exercises will enhance the professional skills and fighting capacity of the Armenian army. The Joint Group of Forces will include the 4th Army Corps of Armenia's Ministry of Defense and the 102nd Russian military base. The Group is headed by the former commander of the 4th Corps, Major General Andranik Margaryan. This corps largely covers the Armenian-Nakhichevan border. The Joint Group of Forces, besides improving the combat readiness of our army, will also increase the security of Armenia. The fact that the majority of senior and high-ranking officers were trained in the higher military educational institutions of Russia is of great importance. Thus, the staff structures of Armenia and Russia are very similar. In addition, the two countries have similar weapons. There is a practice of joint exercises and military games. Such a military group can be easily integrated into a combat-ready and efficient unit.

- What are Russia's goals and objectives?

- The South Caucasus is a zone of the strategic, economic and geopolitical interests of Russia, which also protects its property in Armenia – a gas pipeline and many other energy facilities. In strategic terms, Armenia's 102nd base is quite important. Although it is small, the Armenian territory is close to the Middle East. Therefore, it is important for Russia to have a fully-fledged military presence here.

- Some experts fear this agreement and warn that Russia is pursuing its "imperial interests", seeking to take control of the Armenian army. Is the Joint Group of Forces a new phenomenon or does it have world analogues?

- There are a lot of joint unions in the world, especially in the framework of the NATO military units. These are the Franco-German brigade, the German-Dutch and the German-Danish-Polish Corps. But no one says that Germany merged the armies of these countries. Speculations that Russia will merge our army, or that the creation of the Joint Group of Forces threatens the sovereignty of Armenia are meaningless. People who are not experts in matters of military development do this. These experts insist that you should not trust Russia. But in order to make a claim, you have to provide arguments. Let these circles provide their arguments. At the moment there have been none.

- How would you characterize the reaction of Armenian society to the Joint Group of Forces?

- There were no sociological studies on this topic. Expert communities have different and controversial points of view, because some experts are biased and put their words into people's mouths. Society as a whole is not informed about the issue of the creation of the Joint Group of Forces, about its essence, its goals. Since there is no complete information, Armenian society feeds on press reports. And the press largely provides the views of those experts who are not experts in this matter. Public opinion has not yet been formed. It is still too early to speak about society's reaction. The real process of the creation of the Joint Group of Forces and more information about it will form an opinion. But it will probably be positive, since we are talking about the issue of improving security.