Robert Kocharyan calls for ‘full-fledged integration’ with Russia

In a recent interview, Armenia’s embattled second president Robert Kocharyan called for a ‘full-fledged modern integration’ between Armenia and the Russian Federation. He stressed that his proposal was not ‘about the restoration of the Soviet Union’.

‘The world is being regionalized. Global processes are replaced by certain regional integration processes’, Armenia’s second president told Russian state-owned media outlet Sputnik. ‘And in this regard, I think, Armenia should very seriously think about deeper interaction with Russia – much deeper than it is now.’

Kocharyan did not offer further information about what a ‘much deeper’ integration would be like, nor comment if he envisioned a union-state on the lines currently proposed by the Kremlin between Russia and Belarus. 

Kocharyan, who remains on trial for ‘overthrowing the constitutional order’ due to his involvement, as president, in a violent post-election crackdown in 2008 that left 10 people dead, recently announced that he would participate as a candidate in the country’s next parliamentary elections. 

[Read more: Robert Kocharyan: ‘We will win Armenia’s next election’ ]