Interview of Artsakh Security Council Secretary Vitaly Balasanyan to Aravot.am – Mr. Balasanyan, how do you assess the current security of Artsakh? There are people from Artsakh who left Artsakh as a result of the war and, despite the fact that their settlements have been preserved, do not intend to return, given the uncertain state of the post-war and still unspecified borders, the danger of being taken prisoner. – There is no such thing as being safe somewhere.
There is no safe place in the world at all. Even in countries that are not at war today, terrorism is taking place in those countries. Show me a country where these terrorist acts do not take place. We often hear of superpowers entering schools in the United States shooting. Every citizen, every resident, when he / she contributes to state-building, state security, which includes the security of the people, the issues are resolved sooner. Now we are developing different programs. The Artsakh Republic will have its own armed forces, we will strengthen the police forces, the forces of the National Security Service. We will militarize our reservists and the world army within the framework of the law, we will pass to the border service, the peacekeeping forces will carry out their mission and the contingent that is part of the peacekeeping forces. This applies to the airport, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the medical service located in Artsakh from the Russian Federation. We have two field hospitals with which we carry out these works, which have been agreed upon.
Of course, at the moment there are no such documents, but the documents of that cooperation will be: military, political, social, economic, emergency, border services. We are a subject and regardless of everything, whether Artsakh has international recognition or not, it is secondary for us, and I call on the people of Artsakh who went to other countries during the war, both the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation, and I urge them to return to their homes soon. Let them be sure that security issues are fully settled and we will strengthen the security component. – Mr. Balasanyan, information is circulating in the press that you are the de facto leader of Artsakh, how would you comment? – I officially hold the position of the Secretary of the Artsakh Security Council. Of course, today the Security Council has a new structure, a new regulation, the powers of the members of the Security Council in general have increased, maybe they have taken that into account. The de facto leader of the Artsakh Republic is the President, currently headed by Arayik Harutyunyan. When there are new elections, there will be a new president.
I fulfill my responsibilities within my authority. I am a law-abiding person, I have not tried and I will not try to abuse my official rights. – Before coming to office, you set a condition that all the power structures will be directly in the field of your coordination, are those conditions observed? -Yes. – Mr. Balasanyan, how do you assess the situation in Yerevan? -Very bad: Definitely bad. Everything must be done within the law. Those who break the law apply to both the President and the Prime Minister, every citizen, all those who break the law must be held accountable. – How do the events taking place in Yerevan these days affect Artsakh? -Very bad: If it had been well thought out, we would not have had this war.
And if it had been a good idea, we would not have so many people on the streets of the Republic of Armenia today. And if he had touched upon it well, our compatriots living in our Diaspora today would not have refrained from investments, state-building, security issues, etc. Of course, not all Armenians have stood up since September 27. It can be one percent of our Armenians. Why didn’t all the Armenians stand up to contribute as individuals, as legal entities, as soldiers, as fighters, as businessmen, as doctors? Where are those Armenians? Today there is no such unity. Our people living in Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia, in the face of the Armenians, because we are a mono-ethnic nation, if we lived right, I am more than sure that all the Armenians, both in Artsakh and Armenia, will contribute. We need to change all this, we need to change our way of life. – There is information that Russian passports will be issued to Artsakh citizens in the near future. Is there such an initiative? – I do not know where the news comes from, do not rule out anything. There is a question of the status of the Artsakh Republic. Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic driven world of Earl. We have offered out loud, it will also be the own territories of the Karabakh Republic. We will expand these territories and Russia
As usual the art of blah blah blah (saying nothing much of substance and not clearly answering the subject matter) is perfected in both Armenia and Artsakh it seems.