Serzh Sargsyan's Remarks: Does the Assessment of 'Nikol Was Right, I Was Wrong' Change?

During the European People's Party congress in Zagreb, Serzh Sargsyan finally spoke about the political assessments of the power shift in Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh resolution, and Armenia-EU relations. It is evident that Sargsyan has somewhat retreated from his initial assessment regarding last year's power shift, where he stated, 'Nikol was right, I was wrong.'

He highlighted the crucial role of his government during the revolutionary processes, emphasizing that the 'velvet' nature of the revolution was largely conditioned by their behavior, as the main goal was to avoid human casualties and keep the country free from shocks: 'I want to emphasize, due to time constraints, that the power change in my country occurred exclusively peacefully. My only aim was to prevent human losses and to keep the state free from dangerous shocks.'

Sargsyan also provides a rather harsh assessment of the past 1.5 years in the country, pointing out the lack of significant developments in both external and internal politics, attacks on democracy and constitutional order, persecutions against media and political figures, and threats to judicial independence. Raising these concerns at the EPP congress is significant as this party holds the largest faction in the Council of Europe, while Armenia is also a member of the CoE and has certain obligations regarding this organization, particularly in the fields of fair judicial systems, human rights protection, and democracy.

The third president understands that the success of Nikol Pashinyan's revolution also implicates the policies of his own government. However, he explains these issues and shortcomings by stating that their priority has always been security and peace, which caused other areas to be overlooked. He also voices the concerns of those who accuse him of 'caving in to populists.' 'Yes, we also bear some blame for what has happened in Armenia. But I assure you that security and peace issues have always been our primary and vital concerns, and perhaps some issues were subordinated to solving these problems,' stated Sargsyan.

Sargsyan likely realizes that the EPP can play a certain role in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, which is why he raises his concerns regarding the current state of the negotiation process. Although the current negotiations are not directly expressed, various secondary sources suggest that serious problems are escalating in this area, and Sargsyan asserts to Baku that 'Nagorno-Karabakh will never be part of Azerbaijan.' This statement is long awaited from Armenia's current authorities, yet Nikol Pashinyan does not voice it.

At the end of his speech, Sargsyan appealed to the participants of the EPP congress to accelerate the ratification of the Armenia-EU agreement, saying, 'Armenia-EU relations are still developing based on the foundations laid during my leadership with President Tusk. The agreement signed in Brussels in 2017 must be implemented to improve the lives of our citizens. From this high platform, I urge you to expedite the ratification process as much as possible.'

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.