Brussels, November 13, 2025 — The European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) expresses its deep concern and indignation regarding the upcoming Armenia Prayer Breakfast, scheduled for November 14–15, 2025, with the support and participation of the Armenian Prime Minister.
While the promotion of interfaith dialogue is an essential and respected element of Armenian spiritual heritage, the EAFJD regrets that this event appears to constitute yet another instance in which the current Armenian authorities instrumentalize religious traditions for political purposes. Such actions risk undermining the genuine spiritual and reconciliatory intent that prayer gatherings are meant to embody.
The initiative appears designed to distract from the government’s ongoing anti-democratic actions and its systematic campaign of pressure against the Armenian Apostolic Church — the spiritual cornerstone of the Armenian nation — and to lend legitimacy and credence to its increasingly authoritarian policies and steps.
The EAFJD is particularly troubled by the broader context in which this event is being organized — a context marked by increasing governmental interference in religious affairs and mounting pressure against the Armenian Apostolic Church. This campaign is evidenced by the politically motivated persecution and imprisonment of senior Church officials and their supporters, including:
Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, Prelate of the Shirak diocese, a prominent clergyman of the Armenian Apostolic Church, sentenced to two years in prison on charges of “calls to overthrow constitutional order,” widely regarded by his defense and the Church as politically motivated;
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, former Prelate of the Tavush diocese, leader of the opposition “Sacred Struggle” movement, in pre-trial detention since June 2025 along with over a dozen of his supporters, charged with allegedly plotting a coup d’etat to overthrow the government;
Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, Prelate of the Aragatsotn diocese, arrested in October and currently in pre-trial detention on charges of allegedly “coercing citizens into taking part in public gatherings” in 2021;
Philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, held in pre-trial detention since June 2025, on politically motivated charges following his public statement defending the Church in the face of government attacks.
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The EAFJD calls upon all European clergy and dignitaries invited to the Armenia Prayer Breakfast to approach their participation with due awareness of these serious concerns. Engagement with such events should not be interpreted as tacit endorsement of the government’s narrative or as indifference to the ongoing erosion of democratic standards and religious freedom in Armenia. Instead, their visit should serve as an opportunity to demonstrate a genuine commitment to democracy, human rights, and freedom of religion in Armenia.
Should European representatives nonetheless choose to attend, the EAFJD urges them to:
Publicly reaffirm their commitment to democracy, human rights, and freedom of religion;
Publicly denounce the persecution and intimidation directed at the Armenian Apostolic Church and its clergy;
Seek meetings with the detained and imprisoned high-ranking clergy and political prisoners, including Samvel Karapetyan, to assess their conditions and the nature of the charges against them;
Visit the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin and meet with His Holiness Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, to hear firsthand the Church’s perspective on the current state of religious freedom and Church–state relations in Armenia.
The EAFJD reiterates that genuine partnership and solidarity with the Republic of Armenia must rest upon the shared values of justice, democracy, fundamental freedoms, including freedom of conscience — not on participation in initiatives that risk providing political cover for repression or inadvertently legitimizing the government’s narrative and its growing authoritarian tendencies.
European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy
