30/09/2025 Session
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe today, the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan stressed the preparedness of the people of Armenia to safeguard democracy, fight human rights violations and nurture the “newborn peace” with the help of the Council of Europe and its institutions.
“In the Republic of Armenia, the Council of Europe and the Parliamentary Assembly are perceived as guardians and defenders of democracy and human rights,” he said. “The Council of Europe is our home where we find our address as a democratic state.”
The Prime Minister stressed the vital importance of PACE resolutions as a “constant companion in Armenia’s difficult journey of democracy” and of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. “The Council of Europe and its structures are an organic continuation of Armenian state institutions. I – and many people – do not consider the Council of Europe and its institutions to be a foreign organisation. This is our organisation, one of the most important in our democracy,” he underlined.
“Our membership in the Council of Europe inspires in us greater confidence in implementing democratic reforms, because we know that if we make a mistake, there is an organisation close to us that would alert us and would help us find the right direction on the path to democracy, which, unfortunately, is becoming increasingly more difficult.” He specifically mentioned continued threats to electoral democracy, cyber- and hybrid attacks, and disinformation which is “even more problematic” in the case of Armenia, given the current media landscape. “Armenia should work with the global democratic community on these issues, in tandem, and we shall do so,” the Prime Minister said.
Bringing peace to Armenia is a primary task that was entrusted to the government by the Armenian people, Mr Pashinyan said. “On 8 August this year, in Washington DC, with the President of Azerbaijan, we adopted the declaration which affirmed the establishment of peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This was a historic event,” he underlined.
“Peace is not a vacation; it is daily work. Peace, like a newborn, requires daily care. Today, our newborn peace is one month and twenty-two days old, and we must lovingly nurture it and take care of it, so that it grows, matures, becomes stronger – and helps our region of the South Caucasus to flourish.”
It is important in this context also to clarify the fate of missing persons and address the problems of those deprived of their liberty as a result of the protracted conflict, Prime Minister Pashinyan stressed.
Turning to Armenia's future, the Prime Minister noted that “there is tremendous work to be done – to establish an independent judiciary, to implement a comprehensive anti-corruption system, to resist hybrid attacks which target democracy, to entrench the rule of law and justice, to strengthen the protection of human rights, and to increase people’s trust in the state”.
“The Republic of Armenia will confidently follow this path - and we are confident that we will enjoy the support of the Council of Europe and its structures in this journey,” he concluded.