“The Opportunities Are Great, We Must Not Be Afraid to Utilize Them”: Arayik Harutyunyan

The Head of the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, Arayik Harutyunyan, addressed the trilateral meeting between Armenia, the EU, and the US that took place in Brussels on April 5:

“The results of today are the outcome of long-term and persistent work. However, it is essential to note the following: The work being done must be doubled and tripled. The effort of each of us is invaluable in the state-building process. Therefore, despair should have no place in our lives. A hybrid large-scale war is being waged against us to instill despair, to which we have so far resisted due to the cool-headedness and mindfulness of our society, as well as the properly framed issues at hand. The last crisis we overcame together, defending our Independence, was in September of last year. Attempts to create new crises using hybrid tools will continue, which necessitates protection against large-scale fake attacks. The course of our state depends on each of our abilities to transform—continuously educate ourselves, create, innovate, and strengthen the state by paying taxes, a significant portion of which is directed towards security. It is strange, but outside our borders, people believe more in our capabilities than within the country itself. This needs to be corrected. The opportunities are great; we must not be afraid to utilize them.”