Political analyst: Renovation of the national and defense security strategy must be a priority for the new defense minister of Armenia

ArmInfo. Renovation of the national and defense security strategy must be a priority for the new defense minister of Armenia, says deputy director of the Caucasus Institute, Sergey Minasyan. 

He recalled that the strategy was drafted in 2007 and does not meet the military and political reality. This is one of the reasons behind the Armenian side's omissions during the April military actions.

Talking to ArmInfo, Minasyan said Deputy Minister of Defense David Tonoyan said earlier this year in Vienna at an OSCE seminar "Military Doctrinal Approaches" that Armenia is shifting from "static defense" to "curbing/deterring" the enemy, which was a statement not backed with any documents.  "That is, the military political situation in the region dictates that the Armed Forces of Armenia shift to deterring the adversary, but there is still no document on it. I think the new minister of defense, whoever he is, must tackle the regulatory environment," Minasyan said.

As for Baku's response to the military parade in Yerevan, Sergey Minasyan called it a predictable hysteria.  In his words, Azerbaijan will overcome the shock soon and start actively arming to gain military prevalence over Armenia again. "It is clear that the arms Armenia has acquired recently helped it restore the broken balance," Minasyan said adding that this factor makes Azerbaijan delay with the next high-level meeting.

"I think the next summit can be held not just in Paris, but in any other city, but it is supposed that the French side will organize it. The problem is that the social and economic situation in Azerbaijan, the parade in Yerevan left Azerbaijan less area for maneuvering. And the next meeting will mean a return to the pre- April stage of the talks and strengthening of he status quo, something Azerbaijan opposes vigorously," the political analyst said.