Media: West unprepared to address Armenia's challenges Closed-door meeting unveils Yerevan's concerns

Concerns have arisen regarding the level of support Armenia can expect from Western nations regarding its potential application for European Union (EU) membership.

In a closed-door meeting held between the ruling party and Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan, doubts were raised over the West's stance on Armenia's EU aspirations.

Reports from the Armenian publication Hraparak shed light on the apprehensions expressed during the meeting. Despite Armenia's pro-Western inclinations, Grigoryan's pessimistic responses regarding the West's readiness to support Armenia's EU bid left attendees unconvinced, Caliber.Az reports.

"The ruling party and Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan yesterday held a closed meeting in parliament, during which they discussed both the risks and privileges awaiting Armenia in case of Armenia's application for EU membership and other issues of state security," Hraparak writes.

During the meeting, a Deputy Minister of Finance presented a detailed report outlining Armenia's economic interdependence with Russia and the potential economic risks associated with diversifying its foreign policy away from Moscow.

“At the beginning of the meeting, one of the Deputy Ministers of Finance presented to the MPs an extensive report on Armenia’s economic dependence on Russia and assessed what economic risks we face as a result of the transition from Russia to the EU, that is, what consequences the ‘diversification’ of foreign policy will lead to. Grigoryan acknowledged that Armenia is connected to Russia by an umbilical cord and expressed a negative opinion regarding drastic steps, as a result of which Upper Lars could be closed to Armenian cargo carriers or create serious security threats. When asked whether the West is ready to ‘diversify’ our problems, Grigoryan replied that they have not expressed such readiness,” the publication notes.

In response to inquiries regarding the readiness of the West to support Armenia in diversifying its alliances, Grigoryan reportedly conveyed that such readiness had not been expressed.

“From Armen Grigoryan’s answers, the ruling party got the impression that the West not only does not support Armenia’s application to the EU, but just the opposite: the pro-Western official did not convince the team members that everything would be fine, but with pessimistic answers, he raised doubts in them,” it adds.

Grigoryan also emphasized Armenia's commitment to remaining a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) for the foreseeable future and clarified that the Armenian government does not intend to take any drastic steps against Russia.

Grigoryan also said that they are not planning to leave the CSTO or take other steps against Russia in the near future, but insisted that the Armenian authorities' statements to Russia are having an effect. For example, yesterday Lavrov called Ararat Mirzoyan and ‘we discussed regional issues’. And it started after his statement that Russian border guards should be removed from Zvartnots. However, he noted that Armenia is determined on this issue and informed Russia about it in an official letter," the newspaper writes.