Status of Russian border guards will be clarified

The status of the Russian border guards in Armenia will be revised. This sensational statement was made on Sunday by the new Armenia’s Defense Minister David Tonoyan, who headed the country’s military department in May this year, after the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan and the change of the republic’s top leadership. “These are not documents cast in stone, and as time goes, problems arise that require legal and treaty modifications. And this, certainly, will be done,” David Tonoyan assured journalists in Yerevan. Without specifying which modifications must be made in the Agreement on the Status of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation in Armenia, signed in January 1992, shortly after the collapse of the USSR and the proclamation of Armenia’s independence, Minister Tonoyan explained that the recent incident involving Russian military personnel in the Armenian village of Panik (Shirak Province) might “speed up implementation of some modifications”. It should be reminded that last Tuesday the Russian military from the 102nd military base deployed in the republic while holding exercises drove down the streets of Panik village and fired blank cartridges there, which caused discontent among the local population. “I consider the incident to be a provocation to the Armenian-Russian relations, as well as a provocation against the sovereignty of Armenia. Those responsible should be punished,” Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan commented on what happened in Panik village. In turn, the commander of the 102nd Russian military base, Colonel Vladimir Yelkanov, who after the incident held a closed meeting with Defense Minister David Tonoyan, outlined his version of the events: “The units of the 102nd Russian military base carried out planned training activities, the details of which are coordinated with the Ministry of Defense according to the annual plan. Roads, movement of machinery – everything is planned and agreed. The intelligence divisions held the exercises. But I’ll tell you a secret: since they are intelligence officers, they will not under any circumstances name the place of their exercises, so the conversation was tense. The place was chosen improperly, however, without covering up the officers, I note that they treated Panik as a place where their friends live”. According to local media reports, on Sunday the 102nd Russian military base arranged a field soldier’s lunch in the village of Panik and held a concert for its residents. The statement by Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan on the revision of the status of the Russian border troops in Armenia became the harshest statement against the Russian military, which have been in the republic since the first years of its independence. Let us recall that in May 1992, six months after the signing of the Agreement on the Status of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation in Armenia, Armenia, together with Russia and several other former Soviet republics, joined the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Meanwhile, the document entitled the “Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Armenia on the Status of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation on the Territory of the Republic of Armenia and the Conditions of Their Functioning” contains 30 articles and proclaims its goal “to ensure the collective security of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States”. Moreover, art. 3 of the agreement reads: “The border troops of the Russian Federation on the territory of the Republic of Armenia respect the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia, comply with local legislation and do not allow interference in the domestic affairs of the Republic of Armenia. Local authorities respect the legal status of the border troops of the Russian Federation, their members, and family members of these individuals and do not allow any actions that impede the fulfillment by the Russian Federation’s border troops of their tasks.” Source: Kommersant