Opposition MP slams Brussels talks as 'disgraceful failure'
The Armenia-EU-US meeting held in Brussels on April 5 was a "disgraceful failure", Artur Khachatryan, an MP from the opposition Hayastan faction, told a press briefing on Monday.
The lawmaker claims a country’s leader and four senior officials “do not just meet in Europe to discuss some $15 million dollars a year provided by the U.S. and €70 million a year provided by the EU”, recalling that the European Union pledged to provide up to 2.6 billion euros in assistance to Armenia two years ago.
Highlighting that the Armenian authorities previously stated that Armenia “is ready to be closer to the European Union, as much as the European Union considers it possible”, the opposition MP pointed out that the Europen officials only presented the current EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.
The MP also touched upon Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's latest speech in the parliament. "The Artsakh issue, according to Pashinyan, was just an excuse for depriving Armenia of its independence. Then Pashinyan, in his turn, did everything to get rid of this excuse: that is, his policy was basically aimed at sacrificing Artsakh to save Armenia, but we see that after Artsakh’s surrender [to Azerbaijan], we are in an even worse situation,” he stated.
Hayastan MP Anna Grigoryan, in her turn, spoke about the border delimitation and demarcation with Azerbaijan and the activities of the government commissions dealing with the issue, stressing that a decision on the handover of villages in Tavush Province to Azerbaijan had not been made by the authorized body.