Excellences, Distinguished colleagues,

Dear civil society representatives,

It is a profound honor to address this forum again. 

When I stood before you two years ago, the South Caucasus was a region marked by uncertainty and insecurity. We were speaking about peace, almost like a distant goal. The European perspective, though inspiring, often felt out of reach amid persistent security challenges. Today, I return to you in a fundamentally different reality. We are no longer discussing the possibility of peace: we are talking about the established peace. We are no longer speaking about European integration as a wish: we are speaking of it as an adopted law.

Peace in the Region

Armenia has long declared that our region needs lasting peace. For years, we faced skepticism and major challenges. Yet, the Armenian government remained steadfast in its conviction that the only guarantee for the country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and prosperity of its citizens is peaceful coexistence with its neighbours. Signing of the Washington Peace Declaration and initialling of the Peace Treaty mark a historic turning point in this journey.

Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is dialogue and the patience to build trust.

And now, in this context, I want to call upon civil society in Armenia and Azerbaijan to embrace this new reality. Governments can sign treaties, but we need societies to build trust. 

Civil society can build human connections that treaties can’t create. Governments can organize meetings. But here our authority ends, and the rest, the true dialogue and reconciliation is in your hands.

In this regard, I’m glad to note that bilateral direct civil society dialogues were lately held respectively in Yerevan and Baku.

Armenia-EU Partnership

Dear friends,

Over the last several years, our partnership with the European Union has developed at an unprecedented pace. While the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership agreement - CEPA, has been serving as a strong legal foundation of the Armenia - EU Partnership, we have developed our relations far beyond CEPA, enriching them with new dimensions. 

Allow me to mention the major achievements:

• The launch and tangible progress in the Visa Liberalization Dialogue,
• The successful functioning of the EU Civilian Mission in Armenia,
• The delivery of the first batch of assistance under the European Peace Facility,
• New horizons for security cooperation through launch of Security and Defense Consultations and Armenia’s joining of the CSDP Framework Agreement,
• And finally, the adoption and progress of the Resilience and Growth Plan.

Just yesterday, we adopted the Strategic Agenda for the Armenia-EU Partnership, complementing the CEPA and elevating our partnership agenda to a strategic level. 

But one of the most significant milestones occurred in the spring. Armenia’s Parliament adopted the law launching the accession process of Armenia to the EU. And here I would like to emphasize the role of the civil society, as the Law was a civilian initiative and clearly reflected the aspirations of the people of Armenia. The fact that the Government and the Parliamentary majority supported the initiative shows that we share the same common vision of bringing Armenia closer to the EU.  It symbolises that in Armenia, the path to Europe is not only government policy but also societal choice, driven from the bottom up. This is democracy in action.

Democracy and Resilience

Dear colleagues,

I began my remarks today by noting that much has changed since my last intervention in this format. Indeed, the security situation, the peace in the region, and the depth of the Armenia-EU partnership have all evolved. Yet, throughout these different processes, one thing has not changed: the robust commitment of the Government of Armenia to the democratic path despite all the challenges, the war, internal political crisis, foreign intervention and manipulation. 

Today, we face a new generation of threats. Hybrid attacks – disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, attempts to manipulate public opinion and undermine trust in democratic institutions are constant realities. These threats are designed to exploit the openness of democratic societies.

But here is what we have learned: when met with awareness and civic engagement, these hybrid threats do not weaken democracy, they make it more resilient and stronger. Each attack that we successfully counter, each disinformation campaign that we expose, strengthens our democratic “immune system”.

And this brings me to the civil society representatives gathered here today. The state cannot act alone. We rely on you, our civil society, to be the immune system of our democracy. We rely on you to combat disinformation with facts and to ensure that our reforms remain irreversible. You are the guardians of the values we champion.

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

I am confident that bright and promising times lie ahead for the South Caucasus. Through cooperation, our region can unlock its full potential. Civil society has a significant role to play in this.

Together - governments, civil society, citizens - are creating a new era for Armenia, for our region, for Europe. It is an era defined not by conflict and division, but by peace, cooperation, and shared prosperity.