Drivers from Armenia will be hit with a license

State Duma deputies decided on October 24 to postpone consideration of the bill on the recognition of national driver’s licenses of Armenian citizens when they carry out business and labor activities. The decision that the bill would be postponed was made even when relations between Russia and Armenia were not deteriorating, says Leonid Kalashnikov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs.

“When we adopted the law on traffic safety in 2017, we legislated that those EAEU countries that have enshrined in the constitutions of their countries the meaning of the Russian language and its use can claim such a right [о принятии национальных водительских прав]. The question here is not whether people know the Russian language or not, but what is the attitude towards the Russian language in their countries,” explains Kalashnikov. Armenia is the only EAEU country that has not secured the status of the Russian language, so in its case the State Duma would have to violate its own approach, says Kalashnikov: “Kyrgyzstan, for example, changed the language law, but it looked at how Russia views it, so that there would be no distortions.”

This was a matter of constant discussions with Armenia, so what happened should not be reduced to what happened in Russian-Armenian relations over the past year, Kalashnikov adds. Relations between Armenia and Russia became complicated after Azerbaijan carried out a military operation in late September and the exodus of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh, although the first symptoms appeared even earlier. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Russia of failing to fulfill its security obligations to his country.

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Transport Evgeny Moskvichev did not answer Vedomosti’s question about whether the postponement of the bill is due to the fact that relations between Russia and Armenia have deteriorated over the past year, and referred to quotes from State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. The interlocutor in the Duma says that it is clear that the cooling between Russia and Armenia does not improve the prospects for relations in many areas, but still the situation with national rights should not be included in this context. Another Vedomosti source says that the decision is “a hint at Yerevan’s behavior.”

Yesterday, the Armenian newspaper Iravunk reported that Russia will not approve the candidacy of the new Armenian ambassador to Moscow, businessman and parliament member from the ruling Civil Contract party, Gurgen Arsenyan. Arsenyan himself announced his nomination for this post, noting that his documents are in Russia. At the same time, the current Ambassador of Armenia to Russia, the country’s ex-Minister of Defense Vagharshak Harutyunyan, has not yet been recalled from Moscow. The reason for Russia’s position was allegedly anti-Russian statements made by Arsenyan earlier. As reported by the Armenian publication 24News, Arsenyan stated that “Russia’s leadership is preventing Armenia from strengthening the country’s security.” But Arsenyan himself called the information about his rejection by the Russian side disinformation and refused to comment on it.

Vedomosti sent a request to the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

Political scientist Arthur Ataev believes that the traditionally more influential channel of dialogue between Moscow and Yerevan is the diaspora. “Embassy [Армении] is far from a key actor <...> the diaspora actually performs the functions of an embassy in the real sense,” the political scientist emphasized. Research fellow at the Yerevan Caucasus Institute Hrant Mikaelyan says that Arsenyan is among the core of Pashinyan’s supporters and shares the prime minister’s policy of appeasement with Turkey, which implies a weakening of relations with Russia. The selection of personnel is carried out in accordance with political goals. “When it was necessary to improve relations with Moscow, Harutyunyan was appointed ambassador. Now the goal is different, and Arsenyan’s appointment corresponds precisely to this goal,” Mikaelyan summed up.