The EU mission in Armenia is turning into a NATO mission, says Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry. Of course, this assessment of his fits in the context of the information war or conflict arising from the confrontation between Russia and NATO or the West. However, here perhaps it is not just an element of propaganda war, but a manifestation of subtle layers of political realities.
By raising the “status” of the EU mission to a NATO mission, Moscow essentially raises the degree of responsibility of that mission for regional stability, particularly in the Armenia-Azerbaijan range, raises and, so to speak, makes it an object. After all, Armenia declares that the EU mission has raised the level of border security and stability. Nevertheless, it is clear to everyone that the European Union, with its military-political weight, is, to put it mildly, far from being a significant and objective military-political, security actor in the Caucasus.
NATO is different, as evidenced by a series of statements made by Jens Stoltenberg, the general secretary of the alliance, during his regional visit to Azerbaijan. In addition, the presence and role of NATO member Turkey in the region. What is Russia doing now? As I have had the opportunity to express many times, Russia, not having sufficient ability to control the security situation in the Caucasus, being over-occupied in the Ukrainian direction, and also having urgent problems in other directions, conducts a policy of tactical retreat in the Caucasus.
The logic of this is understandable: you don’t have the opportunity, you should not take responsibility either, and moreover, try to put the responsibility on other actors. The announcement that the EU mission has effectively turned into a NATO mission is within that context. Currently, Russia is trying to be satisfied with the minimum solution of the problem in the Caucasus, the problem of not letting the development of events go beyond control.
No matter how strange it may seem, NATO, the polarization of responsibility on the West is within its scope, because Moscow is thus trying to constrain those actors. Responsibility, even more so in today’s liquid and extremely fast changing, collapsing world, is a limiting, constraining factor, especially when its degree and the ratio of opportunities to realize it are not adequate.
#Moscow #raises #status #observers