Political analyst: Pashinyan legalised NATO presence in Armenia

Armenian political analyst Beniamin Matevosyan has raised concerns about Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government allegedly facilitating NATO's presence in Armenia, citing recent developments in the country's foreign policy.

"Armenia considers the US and Europe as its main partners, but this does not mean a turnaround in foreign policy. This was stated by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in an interview with TN TV channel,” he said in his programme in Armenian media, Caliber.Az reports.

"We have democracy and we want to strengthen democratic institutions. We see that, for example, the United States and the European Union are major partners. We are now deepening economic and political relations with Brussels and Washington. I would not call it a turnaround, we are trying to ensure our security and development along the democratic path, and we see that there are good partners in the West," Mirzoyan said.

Mirzoyan did not really say anything new, and in many respects, his words fit into the general concept of information policy, which the authorities have been implementing in the country for a long time - to deny the obvious.

Remember, when European observers arrived in Armenia in 2022 and the dominant negotiating platform with Azerbaijan was the Western platform (Brussels and Washington), the Armenian authorities not only declared that this was an absolutely peaceful mission, but also that the Western negotiating platform was not opposed to, but complemented the Moscow negotiating platform? Moreover, in the decision of the Council of Europe on sending the mission to Armenia it was stated that their mandate in Armenia would be temporary, the mission would last no more than two months. And what did we get in the end?

The EU mission, in accordance with the agreement ratified by the Armenian parliament in March 2024, received the status of absolute immunity in Armenia. According to media publications and statements of several foreign officials, its [mission] composition already includes former military personnel from Canada, Norway, and the US, which has turned mission as a tool to legalize NATO’s presence in Armenia, and the Moscow negotiation platform is dead (the same Ararat Mirzoyan has refused to fly to Moscow since last summer for consultations on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan, and Nikol Pashinyan has not received Special Envoy for the South Caucasus Igor Khovaev).

In other words, the authorities said one thing, but the final result is completely different. The same applies to the statements about the Armenian authorities allegedly not changing the country's foreign policy vector.

Of course, there will be those who will say that despite everything Nikol Pashinyan and Ararat Mirzoyan are on the right path if they change their foreign policy vector. However, the question is: in which direction are they changing this vector?

Armenia's European aspirations are publicly stated, but it is impossible to 'cancel the geographical map' and the 'door to the EU' for Pashinyan's Armenia goes through 'Türkiye's backyard'," Matevosyan said.