Kremlin ally mocks Pashinyan’s EU-EAEU balancing act

Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev has compared Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s position on Armenia’s future relationship with the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) to a famous political formula associated with Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky.

Commenting on Pashinyan’s remarks regarding the possibility of a referendum on Armenia’s future alignment with either the EAEU or the EU, Medvedev argued that the Armenian leader had effectively adopted Trotsky’s well-known approach of “Neither war nor peace, and the army disbanded.”

“Literally this: we will not decide anything through a referendum until we are invited to join the EU,” Medvedev wrote on his channel.

The Russian official also suggested that, should such an invitation be extended, Armenia’s leadership would “run eagerly toward Europe.”

Medvedev’s comments came after Pashinyan stated that Armenia would continue working within the EAEU until a choice between the bloc and the European Union became unavoidable, adding that any final decision should be made by the Armenian people through a referendum.

By Vafa Guliyeva