Pashinyan Discusses Constitutional Referendum with European Partners

During Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's visit to Brussels, the issue of the constitutional referendum was also discussed with European partners. This was stated today, March 9, in a conversation with reporters in Brussels by Ruben Rubinyan, head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE and a member of the 'My Step' faction, as reported by news.am.

"In all our meetings today, we naturally touched upon the processes of reform taking place in Armenia and, in general, the developments occurring in our country, and, of course, the Constitutional referendum was also discussed. We presented to all our partners the history of the process, the current situation, and the projected future. I should mention that among our European partners, at least in my regard, there is an understanding that the existing issue in Armenia related to the need for the development of the judicial system and the necessity to solve the situation created around the Constitutional Court is acknowledged," he said.

Rubinyan believes that Europeans likely have a positive perception of their motives. "The decision related to the Venice Commission is within our jurisdiction, and as I have said many times, at this moment there is no decision on whether to appeal to the Venice Commission or not," he noted.

In response to a journalist's question about whether they could convince their European partners of the need for a referendum, Rubinyan stated that they do not aim to convince Europeans, but rather to be convincing for the citizens of the Republic of Armenia. "During our interactions with our European friends, we present our position and tell the truth, and I believe there is a common understanding that there is an issue, and the issue needs to be resolved, and our motivation for resolving the issue is positive," he said.

In addressing the visit of the Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia and the third President of Armenia, Serj Sargsyan, to Brussels on March 5, he mentioned that Republicans and Sargsyan travel to different countries to criticize their own power. "Republicans and Serj Sargsyan are trying to persuade people that a dictatorship has been established in Armenia, where everything is very bad, there is a climate of hatred, and so on, but I think it is quite amusing for rational people," he added.

When asked whether the 'Civil Contract' party had applied to join the EPP, Rubinyan responded that there is no decision to join any European political family.