A good friend of mine, Michael Kambeck, sent us his new column today. As Michael’s assistants were busy and the Armenian translation of the column could be late I decided to translate it myself quickly. Maybe, that was one of the reasons why I read the column very attentively and noticed points which I think have a bit wrong accents.

Michael presents the alliance between Kocharyan and Ter-Petrosyan as an already existing fact. I think this assertion can be merely hypothetic till the former presidents or their spokesmen announce such an alliance.  In my opinion, if Kocharyan and Ter-Petrosyan can establish an alliance with each other after so many accusations against each other, it won’t do honor to them both.

But I want to focus attention to other accents contained in Michael's column. He notes that the PAP leader has chaired in a conference devoted to discussion of the Putin's vision of the idea of Eurasian Union. Michael notes that in fact the PAP leader thus opposed negotiations on Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) held by the Armenian government with the EU.

I would like to remind Michael that Artashes Geghamyan, president of the ''National Unity'' party who was elected an MP under the RPA list yesterday, presented his new book titled ''Eurasian Union is our Future'' in February 29, 2012. The Armenian President, RPA Leader Serzh Sargsyan attended the presentation of the book but nobody could think of presenting the fact as an attempt to oppose to negotiations held with the European Union.

Michael also writes that “So far, all main parties in Armenia were pro-Russian, but not in the sense of being a puppet”'. I fully agree with him and I think that nobody is going to become a puppet. The foundations for Armenian-Russian strategic cooperation were laid during Levon Ter-Petrosyan's presidency particularly by signing of the Big Political Agreement. Robert Kocharyan’s presidency was marked with development of Armenian-Russian economic cooperation. Armenia-Russia strategic relations were reinforced during Serzh Sargsyan's presidency - the responsibility zone of the Russian military base expanded in particular. These are facts which are known for everyone and I think that it's not at all appropriate to speak about becoming a “puppet”.

The same is true of the European integration. In fact, despite the discords among Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan they all have said that the European orientation remains one of the cornerstones of the country's foreign policy.

I think Michael is right when he criticizes ''us or them'' approach. But the reality is that there is no any influential political power in Armenia which holds this position regarding foreign policy. Everybody understands that Armenia, like it or not, should maintain good relations with Russia, U.S., European Union, Iran and other major players.

I believe that Michael is really our European friend and he strives to be useful for our country and people. I think one of the best ways to do it is not to try to build artificial gaps between the current and former presidents in the issues of foreign politics. Today, the Armenian political elite are not faced with the dilemma of choosing between Russia and European Union. And perhaps, one shouldn't try to create it in an artificial way.

Ara Tadevosyan is the Director of Mediamax.