At a meeting of foreign ministers dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the Eastern Partnership held in the Swedish capital Stockholm, the head of Armenia’s foreign policy department, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, stated that 92 percent of Armenians positively assess relations with the European Union.
At the conference “A new political vision for the Eastern Partnership,” Mnatsakanyan also spoke about being part of Europe and about common values, which made it possible to carry out the velvet revolution in Armenia last year: – “Good work has been done with regard to Armenia. The results of the survey conducted this summer showed that 92 percent of Armenian society positively assesses relations with the EU. That is, good work has been done in terms of communication. I fully agree with the expressed views. This is what I mean when I speak of the strategic importance of effective multilateralism, especially we, small states, are dependent on it. This is an extremely important platform for effective multilateralism, especially among states that share common values.”
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan recalled how many fundamental changes have taken place in the world’s strategic configuration over the past thirty years, listing the fall of the Berlin Wall, the victory of freedom, the predominance of the ideology of democracy and human rights.
“Yes, I represent a country where a major event took place – last year’s velvet, non-violent revolution. It was made possible thanks to adherence to common values. Over these 28 years, starting from Armenia’s independence, we have declared that. There have been many setbacks, we have gone through many difficulties, through tragedy, but it was possible to carry out such a revolution because an appropriate foundation had been formed, and the European model, European common values constituted its core. Gradually a generation had been formed that was able to come out and carry out that revolution,” said Armenia’s foreign minister.
Continuing his visit to Sweden, Armenia’s foreign minister, together with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Pryspayko, was hosted at the Swedish Institute of International Relations.
After Zohrab Mnatsakanyan’s speech, the Azerbaijani deputy also posed a question, asking whether Armenia is ready to go together with Azerbaijan to an international court to examine war crimes committed by Armenians, ethnic cleansing, regarding which there are UN Security Council resolutions, European Parliament and Council of Europe resolutions.
Mnatsakanyan responded: – “Have you heard of Baku? Have you heard of Sumgait, Maragha, have you heard of the occupation of the Shahumyan region? Have you heard of the occupation of part of the Martakert region? Have you heard of the occupation of part of the Martuni region? Do you want me to continue? That is exactly what is being talked about. Are you ready to reduce the rhetoric? Are you ready to understand our concerns? Are you ready to engage in such a dialogue? Or must it be your truth, otherwise there is no truth? There must be a solution only the way you want, otherwise there is no other solution. Being maximalist, we would never have peace. This is exactly the core of the provision I pointed out about preparing peoples for peace. You were talking about issues concerning us. Don’t put yourself in the place of a saint”:
In Stockholm, Zohrab Mnatsakanyan also met with the Director-General of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Carin Jämtin, with whom he signed an agreement on the development of cooperation between the two countries.
