What Was Nikol Pashinyan Trying to Get with His Visit to Paris?

• 06.04.2021, 14:54
• Anna Karapetyan
•  Europe,  "Insight" Analytical Center ,  Armenia,  Analytics

What was Nikol Pashinyan trying to get with his visit to Paris?  This question is very important.

First, by meeting with the President of France, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of National Assembly, with representatives of the Armenian Diaspora, Pashinyan tried to show his electorate that he was very warmly welcomed in France and they are ready to cooperate with him.

Indirectly, Pashinyan tried to create a false sense that the important statements on Armenia that were issued from Paris during and after the war were thanks to him. 

Second, in Paris Pashinyan continued his policy of involving the West into the region. In this case, we are talking not only about his visit to Paris but also to Brussels. Earlier Pashinyan suggested to deploy observers from OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries and then, during his visit to France, he stated that Armenia and the Armenian people are eager to see broader involvement on the part of France, especially considering that as an OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair, France has a commitment and responsibility in the region.

Everything would be fine if Pashinyan limited himself to these statements and did not call the joint statement of November 10th a "paper" that did not resolve the issues. Pashinyan should remember that it is due to him that this "paper" contains such content and that Russia was the guarantor and co-author of these agreements, thanks to whose efforts military operations in Karabakh were stopped.

Baku very quickly took advantage of this statement made by Pashinyan and, knowing full well that everyone sees and hears this in Moscow, rushed to declare at the Foreign Ministry level that France did not play any role in establishing the ceasefire. But Pashinyan did not limit himself  to those statements and decided to declare that during  the last opinion poll most of the respondents in Armenia considered France a friendly country for Armenia.

Indeed, France is a friendly country for us. Indeed, during and after the war France made a number of important statements for Armenia. But the Armenian authorities did not take advantage of these statements and existing opportunities and today France is already changing its rhetoric. At the same meeting with Pashinyan Macron tried to balance his statements and focused not on political but on humanitarian issues related to Karabakh without even mentioning the issue of Karabakh's status.

The question is - what is Pashinyan trying to achieve with his curtsies to the West and new barbs towards Russia? His statements and actions have nothing to do with the national interests of Armenia; they serve purely his personal goals, his ambitions to stay in power. As a result he leads the country along the path of a geopolitical adventure for which we can pay a very high price.