Foreign Ministry Unable to Secure €100 Million Support: 'Zhoghovurd'

'Zhoghovurd' newspaper reports: 'Members of the ruling party, who participate in expensive dinners with European officials and secretly aspire to apply for EU membership, continue to face setbacks from the very European institutions they seek to align with. As it is known, EU member countries decided this year to provide Armenia with €100 million in 'non-lethal' military support from the European Peace Facility; however, Hungary vetoed this decision. As a result, Armenia received nothing.

In this regard, 'Zhoghovurd' posed several questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, to clarify what steps the Armenian Foreign Ministry is taking to resolve the issue with Hungary in order to receive the allocated funds as soon as possible and what results have been achieved. We also asked how the reopening of the Armenian embassy in Hungary has affected Armenian-Hungarian relations and why Ambassador Haykak Arshamyan has been unable to achieve tangible results in this regard.

The Armenian Foreign Ministry provided 'Zhoghovurd' with a general, uninformative response: 'The cooperation between Armenia and the EU is based on numerous initiatives and programs, for the implementation of which mutual efforts are continuously being made. Among them is the support provided to Armenia under the European Peace Facility, which is of significant importance, and discussions on which continue in a bilateral format with both the EU and the EU member states, including Hungary.'

In other words, there is no result or tangible resolution concerning the issue; 'efforts are being made.' Meanwhile, as we approach 2025, Armenia is effectively deprived of the €100 million support.'