The sacked Grigoryan hurt Pashinyan's European dream.
Armen Grigoryan, the former Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, who was unexpectedly dismissed from his position after the parliamentary elections held in June of this year and has since avoided speaking in public, sharply criticized Nikol Pashinyan's path towards European integration in his extensive article. He writes that Armenia's path to membership in the European Union will not reduce its dependence on Russia, but on the contrary, will deepen it. Grigoryan believes that Armenia has no real chance of joining the EU and risks being more vulnerable to pressure from Russia by pursuing an unattainable goal. In particular, Armenia's desire for a hopeless goal like EU membership may complicate its relations with neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan.
Before we go to the summary of the article, we should note that Armen Grigoryan was one of the leading figures in Pashinyan's team and had close ties with Western circles. In this context, Grigoryan's dismissal surprised many observers. According to the Armenian press, Pashinyan fired him because he saw him as a potential rival. There were rumors that allegedly the Western countries even considered his candidacy as an alternative to the current prime minister.
Grigoryan's article came after a proposal by the pro-European Republican Party led by Aram Sargsyan to include a provision on EU membership in Armenia's new draft constitution. Grigoryan also responded to Sargsyan's criticism of his previous remarks in which he compared dependence on the European Union and dependence on Russia.
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