In honor of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Mrs. Anna Hakobyan, who are in the French Republic on a working visit, a reception was held, attended by representatives of the spiritual and secular structures of the Armenian community of France. Among them were Armenian members of the French National Assembly, public and cultural figures, and businessmen.
In his speech, the Prime Minister referred to the working visit to France, the discussions held with President Emmanuel Macron, Armenia’s foreign policy, and the Karabakh conflict.
The Prime Minister noted, in particular:
«It has already become a tradition that foreign visits are necessarily accompanied by meetings with community representatives, in narrower and expanded formats. This is an important protocol and expresses the new policy that the Government of the Republic of Armenia is pursuing in the domain of Armenia-Diaspora relations, the meaning of which is to record the affirmation of pan-Armenian unity as a priority.
And I want to note that the meaning of that new policy has been understood in exactly the same way by international partners as well; yesterday and today I had conversations with the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, and during both of those meetings the President of France made special reference to the Armenian community of France.
And this particularly pleases me by the fact that, for example, the President of France views the Government of Armenia, Armenia and the Diaspora as one whole. And in our contacts, my friend Emmanuel constantly wants to emphasize how important and influential the Armenian community of France is and what a great role it plays in the public life of France, in all sectors. And it is a great honor for me when he mentions by name and surname a number of people who are present this evening.
On this basis, the remaining issues seem to resolve themselves automatically; after the conversation about the Armenians of France, it is already evident that if they have an issue with us, we must certainly resolve it, and if we have an issue with them, that issue must certainly be resolved. And I want to say frankly that during our conversations yesterday and today we agreed that all the issues on our agenda will receive rapid solutions. I want to thank you for that opportunity, because it is your presence, your authority, your standing that provides solutions to all issues, and I want to thank you for having created such a strong rear for us and for France. We must understand that we must resolve all issues, because they are very important for all of us.
In reality, the idea of pan-Armenian unity is very important for us, the main idea of which is the following: there is no border between Armenia and the Diaspora, we are one whole, and when we act as such, all issues take on a different picture and all issues become solvable.
The goal of our government is to create such a situation: the Republic of Armenia is the representative of the entire Armenian people, and this is the decisive factor that must allow real changes to be introduced in the historical destiny of our country and people, to take that destiny out of that vicious circle where, when our luck holds and geopolitical circumstances are favorable, we have statehood, and when it changes, we lose all of that. Our task is to get out of that circle, and I can say with confidence that today we are step by step getting out of that circle.
And now I must inform you: after this year and a half of activity, I can say and record that we already have tangible successes also in the sphere of foreign policy. On the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, a completely new message and content is being formed, which has a direct connection with the real message and content of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. For me, the greatest surprise in the status of prime minister is that the international community has, nevertheless, lost its understanding of the content of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, and it is universally presented as a territorial dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
And I can say that during the last year and a half we have been working to place the real content of the NK issue, that which we carry within ourselves, as a record on the table of the international community. Until very recently, the impression was that we were alone in that conversation, but now I can record that our message is being perceived and understood by the international community, and I consider this a success.
Today I can record that the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are, finally, perceiving and accepting our positions with greater depth; our positions seem more understandable to them, and today we can record that the perceptions of Armenia and Artsakh regarding the settlement of the NK issue are identical one hundred percent. Such a situation has never existed; we have never had a situation where the perceptions of Armenia and Artsakh are identical to the last point, or at least they have never been as identical as they are today.
This means that we are approaching the next important result, that among the Armenian people, in the Armenian reality, there is no debate regarding the Karabakh issue, and we shall soon reach the state where the positions of the Armenians on the settlement of the Karabakh issue are identical.
I want to record that during the last year and a half you have all been witnesses: certain pessimistic assessments have been voiced, for example, in Armenian-Russian relations. We can record that today there is full mutual understanding between the authorities of Armenia and the RF regarding our relations, their content, strategy, present and future. And I hope that the public statements of the RF representatives now already make that reality evident.
In relations with the European Union, we have not had major problems, and we do not have them today either. Armenian-Georgian relations, allow me to insist, have never been at a higher level. With Iran we have full mutual understanding; with the USA we have launched a strategic dialogue, and there are all the signs to record that in relations with the USA we are also very close to an important breakthrough»:
Referring to the domestic Armenian reality, the Prime Minister noted that democracy, the rule of law, the protection of human rights, freedom of speech, the freedoms of citizens, and the power of the people have no alternative in Armenia. «On many international platforms, today as well, listening to the speeches of my partners, I was recording that they were speaking about the need to reduce the level of corruption in their countries. Listening to those speeches, I was saying to myself that that path cannot be of interest to us, because we must speak not of reducing corruption, but of eradicating it.
And we are clearly following that path, and no former, current or future official can hope to remain outside this logic. In our closed party meetings we have had this discussion several times and said: anyone who steals a kopeck from Armenia or the people is a direct personal enemy for us. The rest is already a debate about the future of Armenia, and I am convinced that it will become more and more substantive.
I want to thank all those people who debate with us and criticize us, because in that way they give us the opportunity to correct our mistakes. This is how we understand our task for the future.
I cannot guarantee that our government, or I personally, will be infallible, but I can guarantee that our people will have the opportunity to correct our mistakes at the time when they think we have exhausted the possibilities of correcting our mistakes. Because today we act as the Government of the RA, as the authorities of the RA, but I want to record that in the RA, power belongs to the proud citizen of the RA, and we perceive ourselves as servants of the citizen and the country. I want to assure you that we shall render that service with the utmost of our abilities. The rest is already a matter of the citizens’ assessment.
And so, long live freedom, long live the Republic of Armenia, long live us and our children, who live and shall live in a free and happy Armenia, long live the Diaspora, whose children shall live and today already live in Armenia. I am convinced that you all live with Armenia, I love you all, I am proud of you all, and I bow before you all»:
Afterwards, the Prime Minister answered various questions from the reception participants, which concerned the development of the education sector in Armenia, the fight against corruption, economic developments, and other topics.
