Why Did Pashinyan Not Present Points Regarding Foreign Policy? Vigen Hakobyan

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan did not present points regarding foreign policy in the 100 facts summarizing his first year in office because Armenia has no achievements in this area. This was stated by political technologist Vigen Hakobyan in an interview with Tert.am.

“Indeed, there have been no achievements in the foreign sector during this past year. You have no doubt that if there were achievements, they would definitely have been included among the 100 facts considering what minor details were included in that list. If we analyze all the main foreign directions, we will see that there is no movement,” he said.

The political technologist noted that Armenia's foreign policy, especially in the first half of last year, was not about rapprochement or coordinating interests but rather an equal distancing from everyone.

“There is a precise Russian term—равноудаленный (equally distanced). We were equally distancing ourselves from the power structures. Then the authorities seemed to get used to this and realized that it was difficult to establish themselves in the realm of foreign policy, so they changed their tactics. Due to inexperience or a desire to assert themselves, in the first months, we had равноудалённость from all influential centers,” Hakobyan elaborated.

He pointed out that the current foreign policy of the Republic of Armenia is still unbalanced, with “great efforts being made to improve relations with the strategic ally, Russia.”

“There is a disbalance. The same goes for relations with the USA. Yesterday’s press conference proved that, as there was no encouraging response when a question about relations with the USA was raised. The disbalance is palpable. Our relations with the EU are also not in a practical or effective phase. We are losing quite serious resources by not actively cooperating with China. Of course, steps are being taken to restore what has been lost, but these actions are not included among the 100 facts,” added V. Hakobyan.

The political technologist stated that if he were a member of the prime minister's team, he would not take the path of trying to showcase quantity. “Let there be fewer facts, but they should be more significant, more precise, in line with the problems.”