Alen Simonyan: Should Armenia constantly look over its shoulder to see if Russia is upset while protecting its interests?

The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan, commented on the potential deterioration of Armenian-Russian relations in light of the European Political Community summit in Yerevan.

“Should Armenia, while pursuing its interests, constantly look over its shoulder to see if Russia is upset? Is that right? I think it’s not right,” Simonyan was quoted as saying by Armenian media.

According to him, Armenia is merely safeguarding its own interests and security: “Should Armenia remain a slave? Should it be dictated to about who to greet and who not to? And if it greets someone or hosts them, there are grievances? How can that be?”

Responding to a question about Armenia’s economic dependence on Russia, he stated that he “does not want to speak harshly”: “But what is dependence? Either we live on our knees, whether it’s Russia, France, or someone else, ‘under their boot,’ without holding free elections, without having free media, or we try to be the masters of our small country without wars, hostility, or political or other attacks.”

“Not to replace one ‘big brother’ with another, not to surrender our freedoms, this is a matter of choice,” Simonyan said.

He reiterated that “in the past, we were on our knees because presidential elections were held with falsifications, as evidenced by congratulations from Moscow even before the Central Election Commission’s announcement”: “Russia appointed a governor here, the appointment of most leaders was coordinated with that country, the entire political situation was aligned with it, and Armenian ambassadors collaborated with their ambassadors. Is that political independence? There was no independence.”