Armen Grigoryan, former Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, published an extensive article titled “The Illusion of EU Membership” on the “Medialab” platform. In his article, he criticized Yerevan's hasty policy towards European integration.
Modern.az, citing Armenian media, reports that Armen Grigoryan's article was met with surprise in Armenian society. Now everyone is looking for an answer as to why Grigoryan, who was part of Pashinyan's team until yesterday, made such a statement.
Armen Grigoryan's article “The Illusion of EU Membership” has caused widespread discussions in the country's political and politological circles.
A. Grigoryan noted in the article that although the prospect of Armenia's membership in the European Union seems attractive, it does not correspond to the country's current political, geographical, and economic realities.
He believes that striving for this goal, which is unattainable at the current stage, does not reduce Armenia's dependence on Russia; on the contrary, it further strengthens that dependence by causing a harsh reaction from Moscow.
In his article, A. Grigoryan quite openly criticizes the initiators of the law on the start of Armenia's EU membership process – pro-Western forces known for their anti-Russian stance.
Some circles were surprised by Armen Grigoryan's stance. This is because Armen Grigoryan was directly involved in shaping Armenia's foreign policy in recent years and in the adoption of the law on the start of the country's EU membership process.
For this reason, the question arose: why did Grigoryan not voice these ideas at that time and try to prevent the adoption of the law?
On the other hand, some political circles believe that he is being prepared by certain centers as an opposition figure against Pashinyan in future elections.
His critics, however, state that Grigoryan should have criticized Pashinyan when Armenia lost Karabakh. It is noted that Armen Grigoryan was born and raised in the Martuni region of Azerbaijan's Karabakh region. He even held his wedding in Shusha after the change of power. But he silently and calmly watched the loss of Karabakh from the sidelines.
The “Hraparak” newspaper revealed two years ago that Armen Grigoryan had opposed Armenia's European integration process during closed discussions. Allegedly, at that time, Grigoryan said that such a step was risky for Armenia, which has a high level of economic and security dependence on Russia.
Armenian media writes that there are rumors in political circles that Armen Grigoryan will soon join the opposition ranks. Allegedly, the West is pinning its hopes on Grigoryan with the aim of turning him into a means of pressure against Nikol Pashinyan and his government.
According to information, Armen Grigoryan is expected to join the ranks of the “Restart” movement, which was an active participant in the 2018 revolution. It is reported that the movement, which withdrew from the socio-political scene after the change of power, is resentful of Nikol Pashinyan.
It is claimed that in the near future, pro-Western forces are planned to be brought together and active initiatives related to Armenia's foreign policy will be put forward.
However, the purpose of these initiatives will not be Armenia's progress towards the European Union (EU). It is about a model, allegedly, of removing the country from Russia's sphere of influence, while not becoming an EU member. This approach is likened to the British model.
According to Armenian political scientist Hakob Badalyan, these contradictions may be related both to the growing uncertainty around Armenia and to the deepening disagreements between various centers of influence in the West itself.
At the same time, Badalyan believes that the statements of the former Secretary of the Security Council raise a number of questions.
According to him, if Armen Grigoryan understood from the beginning that Armenia's membership in the European Union was not realistic in the near future, why did he not talk about it while serving in a high state position? What is the reason for him to openly state his position now?
“Thus, we also see that certain boundaries and disagreements have emerged among pro-Western forces within the government,” he said.
Hakob Badalyan drew attention to the activities of the international consulting group “Policy and Management Consulting Group”, where Armen Grigoryan currently works as a consultant.
According to Badalyan's assessment, this organization can actually be considered an American institution.
The group is also reported to have close cooperation with the US government and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
“Now we know that, for example, Armen Grigoryan acts as an expert working on the TRIPP project there and evaluates its prospects. This is also a noteworthy point. Because it is possible to see that there is a certain competition between the pro-Western wings in Armenia's current system of government,” the political scientist emphasized.
It should be noted that Armen Grigoryan served as the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia from 2018-2026. He was also one of the key figures in the “velvet revolution” that led to a change of power in Armenia in 2018.
A. Gorkhmaz
