Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan said that a political operation aimed at changing power is being carried out against the country and drew a parallel with Belarus as an example of what Armenia, in his view, does not want to become. He made the remarks on Armenian Public Television on May 2, News Armenia reported.
“If in Ukraine they are trying to advance and pursue their interests through military means, then in the Republic of Armenia there is an attempt at a political operation, an attempt to seize power”, he said.
According to him, Russia is using the openness of Armenian society against the country itself — by buying advertising online and influencing opposition media.
“The fact that we are democratic is now being used against us. They say: is your internet open? We will buy so much advertising in that internet with our rubles that everything will be ours. Are 90–95% of Armenian media opposition? We will buy part of those media […] and use them against you. […] We will not allow the Republic of Armenia to become a province. We will not be governed like Belarus”, Simonyan said.
He later returned to this comparison.
“Either you must be Armenia, to have balanced relations with Russia and others, or you must be a periphery, or Belarus”, he said.
Speaking about relations with Russia, the speaker stressed that Armenia does not intend to declare war on it or act against it, but will not sacrifice its independence.
“We will not sell our independence. We will not become a province. This cannot happen — it has no price”, he said.
Simonyan also said that the current Armenian opposition is pro-Russian, as they themselves acknowledge.
“And in terms of values, I consider myself European. I believe the Armenian people are a European people, sharing European values. And European values are freedom of speech, human rights, individual freedoms, and the right to life, which for me are fundamental truths”, he added.
Next week, Armenia will host a summit of the European Political Community and the first Armenia–EU summit, which are expected to be attended by Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, among others.
