Yerevan /Mediamax/. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has attended the annual Ambassadorial of the central apparatus of the Armenian Foreign Ministry and heads of diplomatic missions to other countries.

Mediamax presents below several remarks of the Prime Minister.

The principle-based purpose

The purpose of our foreign policy is to ensure sovereignty and security of Armenia, increase consistently their level, and create environment more conducive to safety and prosperity of our country and its citizens.

In order to achieve that, we need to make Armenia’s voice, stances, approaches and goals more visible and acceptable for the world.

One of the fundamental parts of that goal is the non-violent, “Velvet”, democratic revolution that took place in Armenia in 2018 and became a truly global event, and the members of Armenia’s diplomatic service had the opportunity to use it to increase the global recognition and authority of Armenia.

Number one business card

Democracy must become number one business card of Armenia’s foreign policy. Our task is to show the world that the change towards democracy is irreversible in our country, because it is based not on an individual or a specific political circle, but on the consciousness, will and purpose of Armenian people.

The key challenge

The next pillar of our foreign policy, which should help increase Armenia’s agency, is Pan-Armenianism. Out of all difficulties and challenges of our foreign policy, perception of a small nation, small state is the key one.

It is crucial for us to overcome the challenge of being a small country, and I see the practical solution to this issue as follow: Armenian leaders have to present themselves not as minor political forces or members of political elite and not even as leaders from a small country, but as Pan-Armenian representatives, who speak for all Armenians.

Pan-Armenian approach will lend new weight to the Republic of Armenia, its statements and stances. To solve this issue, members of the Armenian diplomatic service should become the uniting factor in the countries with Armenian communities and stop automatically dividing our compatriots living abroad into opposition and pro-government groups, “the old ones” and “the new ones”.

Frankly speaking, I have seen that first-hand during my meetings with Armenian communities in different countries, and I found it unacceptable.