Opposition politician: Armenia-EU relations have never been so 'cynical'

Opposition politician Armen Ashotyan, deputy chair of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), sharply criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s recent visit to Brussels and his speech at the EU’s Global Gateway Forum, calling Armenia–EU relations “more cynical than ever"

In a live Facebook video on Thursday, Ashotyan stated the current Armenian authorities’ political “brands” are anti-Russian rhetoric and the sale of Syunik Province, “if not the entire country”, under the “Crossroads of Peace” project.

He noted that under the Global Gateway initiative, the EU is financing several projects in Armenia, including the Sisian-Kajaran highway, a new customs and logistics hub in Syunik’s free economic zone and another such center in Yerevan. However, he pointed out that there is no investment in the so-called “Trump Route” project, which Pashinyan failed to mention.

Ashotyan questioned how much of the EU’s announced €2.5 billion support package (initially €2.6 billion) has actually been allocated, reminding that around €2 billion of it is in the form of loans.

He accused Pashinyan of misleading the public through the peace rhetoric, claiming that no real peace has been achieved. Ashotyan also said Pashinyan avoided discussing Armenia’s potential EU membership because “such discourse is unwelcome in Europe, where further enlargement faces resistance”.

“In Armenia, Nikol sells the ‘European dream', but abroad he won’t dare to mention it as they’d shut him down immediately,” Ashotyan remarked.