14:06, 20 March 2023
YEREVAN, MARCH 20, ARMENPRESS. The CSTO’s actions and reaction are insufficient for Armenia, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan has said.
He said the matter can’t be resolved simply with a visit by the Secretary General of the organization.
“The term ‘CSTO is leaving the region’ means that the CSTO is not doing the actions that it ought to do, and is showing its absence,” the Speaker said, explaining Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s earlier comments.
Commenting on a reporter’s observation that the CSTO hasn’t said that it is leaving Armenia, while the organization’s Secretary General visited the country on an official trip, the Speaker said: “So what that he visited? What changed?”
Regardless of anything Armenia is making its moves, Simonyan explained.
“Being a member of the CSTO is no obstruction for us in making any move. Regardless of which organization we hold membership in and what conclusions we can draw from this situation, we continue to seek all possible ways to ensure the security of the Republic of Armenia. And politically, he came and left, let them come and go, the issue won’t be resolved by doing so. They’ll come and leave and it won’t stand in the way, for example, for some action two days later. We’ve had that experience after the visit of even higher ranking officials,” Speaker Alen Simonyan said.
Simonyan said that regardless of what system Armenia is part of, it will always try to ensure its security by all means. And often this causes a strong reaction from other CSTO members. “Those strong reactions happen because of this. At the same time, we are committed to our signature. And at this moment, the actions and reaction by the CSTO which we have are insufficient for Armenia. And the visit, ensuring the theoretical part so to say, I don’t know to what extent will be sufficient enough to stop anything on the ground,” Simonyan said.