During his visit to Finland, Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan gave an interview to the local news agency "Lännen Media," which resulted in the publication of an article titled "We want to get closer to Finland and other democratic countries," featuring the Minister's interview, in four Finnish newspapers. The interview addresses various foreign policy issues, including democratic changes in Armenia, expanding partnerships based on democratic values, deepening cooperation with the EU, Armenia's suspension of participation in CSTO bodies, and the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
At the beginning of the article, the journalist noted that Europe is attractive to many today. The community of democratic countries is showing interest in Armenia in an unprecedented way. Quotes from the minister in the interview are presented below.
Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan emphasizes at the beginning of the interview that Armenia shares the same values with countries like Finland. He emphasized that his country is pursuing an "ambitious cooperation agenda" with Finland and the EU. “You know our policy of bringing Armenia closer and closer to the European Union. The Prime Minister of Armenia stated in his speech at the European Parliament that Armenia is ready to get as close to the European Union as the EU deems possible,” Mirzoyan said.
According to him, Armenia is currently implementing a policy aimed at significantly deepening its relations with the EU. Negotiations are underway on a document titled New Partnership Agenda, described by Minister Mirzoyan as a comprehensive cooperation plan covering various fields.
“In April, a high-level trilateral meeting was held between Armenia, the EU and the United States. The main goal was to strengthen the resilience of Armenia, especially economically, keeping in mind that Armenia faces multiple threats from various directions, including hybrid threats, I might say.
As you know, Armenia is a democracy. We had a democratic non-violent revolution. We initiated extensive democratic reforms to eradicate corruption and strengthen democratic institutions. We have already had two parliamentary elections recognized as fully democratic, free, and transparent.
When building a democratic society, of course, we look for opportunities to strengthen ties with other democratic societies. It is quite natural that we turn our eyes to the EU, which has many established democracies.”
Minister Mirzoyan confidently noted that the democratic changes taking place in Armenia are irreversible. “It doesn't matter which government comes to power through democratic free elections, democratic values are the foundation of our society.”
The journalist then asks the following question: how well a military alliance with Russia fits together with European goals. Could Armenia, for example, be pressured to participate in Russia’s war against Ukraine?
“To be honest, we have never been suggested, pressured, or expected to participate in any form in the war in Ukraine. There has been no attempt,” Minister Mirzoyan answered.
In response to a question about involvement of Armenia within the framework of the CSTO Minister Mirzoyan replied: “Formally, we are still part of this organization, but we announced that we have frozen our participation in its activities. We have thought for decades that, in a military sense, we should be in this military alliance, because we have had some common threats, certain concerns, on possible aggression against the territorial integrity and independence of the Republic of Armenia. We thought that this organization would help us protect our sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Unfortunately, in recent years we have seen several attacks and our internationally recognized borders have been violated. When that happened, we never got any real support. At the same time, with such commitments, allies are supposed to help each other. That is exactly the point of a military alliance.
This indifferent attitude led to enormous frustration. It truly shifted public opinion in Armenia. It has created a unique situation. We are in the middle of a major process. Where this process will lead us, I cannot predict, but I can say that we are deepening our relations with our European partners across various fields. I am talking about the economy, economic resilience, as well as political dialogue and mutual understanding. We have EU involvement in the security environment of Armenia. We have the format of Political and Security dialogue with the EU. We have the European monitoring mission deployed on the ground in Armenia, monitoring the situation at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. These developments were unimaginable just a few years ago.”
Touching upon the process of normalization of relations with Azerbaijan, Minister Mirzoyan noted progress in the border delimitation process as positive development: “Overall, we have a border, and we know where it is. It is based on the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, signed by the former Soviet Republics, which transformed administrative borders into state borders. Of course, the commissions of the two countries must work together on further delimitation and precise demarcation”
Minister Mirzoyan, describing delimitation as a guarantee of future stability, noted: “As far as any guarantees are possible these days, having a clearly delimited border is a very strong mechanism.”
In the context of opening of communications, Minister Mirzoyan noted that Armenia and Azerbaijan could reach solutions which would be acceptable for both sides: “We can organize the passage of Armenian goods through Azerbaijan and the passage of Azerbaijani products through Armenia. In the first phase, we can restart rail transit and expand it gradually.”
Regarding the third component of normalizations of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan – the signing of the peace treaty – Minister Mirzoyan noted: “We now have 15 out of 17 articles agreed upon. I believe we could have finalized and signed the treaty even before the COP29 climate summit in Baku. Unfortunately, this did not happen, but we are now ready to do so in a relatively short time. One could say this is a moment of hope. I would say we are very close. Despite the tragic past of our two states and societies, there is an opportunity to turn the page of hostility. The past has been difficult. It is not easy to comprehend, to forget, to forgive, but our region has seen enough bloodshed, and now we have the opportunity to look more towards the future.”
Regarding the internal political crisis in Armenia following the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Mirzoyan noted: “The Prime Minister of the country, government and political team decided to hold early parliamentary elections. We went to the people and asked two things: do they support deeper democratic reforms and the peace agenda, i.e. the policy of the government. We again got the majority of votes. We will ask the same in the 2026 elections, as of now the polls show support for the policy of the government.”
At the moment, we are focused on strengthening the security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of our country. On the other hand, we are focused on the prosperity, continued modernization, and democratization of our country. And this naturally brings us closer to Europe and similar value choices as yours.
At the same time, with all due respect to procedures and rules, perhaps it is time to act differently from the “business as usual” mode. This might be true both for geopolitical decisions and for internally significant decisions. The world is changing. Perhaps it is time for bold political decisions.”
At the end of the interview, Minister Mirzoyan responds with a smile to the question about the nature of the work of Foreign Minister of Armenia: “Thank you for the interesting question. It was very tempting to first become Deputy Prime Minister and then Speaker of the Parliament after our democratic revolution, because we were all figures who went through that process. But when I received the proposal from the Prime Minister to take responsibility for foreign relations, it made me think. Not everyone would agree to take on this role, given the specific circumstances.”
At the end of the article, the journalist added that one can imagine the number of challenges existing for Armenia just looking at the location of the country of just under three million inhabitants on the map between Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran in the neighborhood of Russia in the South Caucasus.
