In Riga, Simonyan met with his Latvian counterpart, Daiga Mieriņa, as well as with President Edgars Rinkēvičs and Foreign Minister Baiba Braže.
“We discussed that Armenia is on its way to the European Union. Therefore, it wants to leave the CSTO, led by Russia. Armenia also informed us that Russian military forces are gradually leaving the country,” shared Daiga Mieriņa.
“What is happening in our region is the same story as in Ukraine. The only difference is the actors involved. We need support to establish long-term peace. We have no territorial claims against our neighbors. All we need is the desire of the Azerbaijani government to establish peace. And in this, we need the help of Latvia and other European partners. We share the values of Latvia and EU members, so we need support to become a full member of the European Union family,” said Simonyan.
Simonyan also touched on Russia’s reaction to Armenia’s pivot towards Europe.
“Regarding any jealousy from Russia – they should have been a good partner, protected their allies, and been honest with their partners, even if the partner is small. Our society has decided to be part of the European Union. A few days ago, there was a discussion in our parliament about holding a referendum for Armenia to become an EU member. I think that someday in the near future we will have this referendum, and I am confident that our people will say ‘yes’,” said Alen Simonyan.