Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan gave an interview to the journalists accompanying him in Zaventem airport, Brussels, before his flight to Armenia. Referring to his first visit to Europe as a Prime Minister, Mr. Pashinyan noted, “This visit can be regarded as a visit of making personal connections, and from that perspective, the aim of the visit can be considered complete. For now, they had only congratulations and compliments to us. It was pleasant to hear them, but they also understood that we are not in the state to melt from compliments. I have told them we will complete the democratic reforms and, of course, with the support of international partners we can execute those reforms faster, but we are not in the status of an applicant as well. I have told them we heard a number of welcoming announcements by the EU after the revolution, but there is no serious shift in policy, it is the same it was 3-4 years ago. It is necessary either to decrease the level of enthusiasm in the announcements or to change the policy.”
The Prime Minister mentioned he had emphasized the important message in different meetings – “democracy is not an orientation of external policy to us, it is a value system, our belief.”
According to Mr. Pashinyan, there are countries where the demand for democracy is an external demand. In case of Armenia, the demand was formed due to the public, consequently, it does not depend on external assistance: “I have directly told them – we are going to implement those changes with your help or without. There is no such thing as – if you do not support us, no change will be made. We are not going to make democracy and these changes as an object of bargaining. We struggle against corruption not because the EU demands us to struggle, but the opposite, our people have demanded. I have told them plainly, that we have not come here in the status of an applicant, we are going to make changes anyway, and you can miss your chance of having your support in those changes. Fight against corruption cannot become an object of political bargaining to us.”
Within this context, Mr. Pashinyan told that lately, during a conversation, some of the EU representatives had told him he was surprised how so much hidden corruption could exist in Armenia, and Pashinyan had answered him: “Do not ridicule us, as if you had no clue. You knew everything very well. There was a time you decided not to notice in the hope of getting geopolitical advantages. Now you do not have them, because everything has failed, you are in a shock.”
“When a European official told to the Prime Minister that they were ready to fund a project in Armenia, I named him a famous corruption case and said if we shake him well enough, the money would fall out of his pockets. So, if you want that money, keep it to yourselves and spend it, we will find money due to inner reforms,” continued the PM.
Generally, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia had “different feelings” connected with the visit. He noticed that both warm and friendly, and business, diplomatic and even sharp conversations were held in different meetings: “I can say that I was direct, frank and transparent during the conversations. It was important to me that our stances were not misread. Overall, ordinary business meetings took place.”
As regards the meeting with the US President, Donald Trump, the photograph of which was widely spread through the social networks, Mr. Pashinyan said that it was a simple handshake, no other conversation or discussion had taken place.