YEREVAN. – Respecting the rights of the LGBT community is a legal requirement for entering the EU. This is stated in the response to the request of online newspaper ‘EUobserver’ as a comment to an interview with an Armenian priest.

The paper talked about gay rights in Armenia with Armenian Bishop Hovakim Manukyan.

“Our culture does not suggest accepting the gays. I mean we do not reject the person, we reject the sin, and that is our liberty, the liberty of the Armenians,” the Armenian Priest told the paper.

He also mentioned that Armenia protects the main human rights. However, the rights of gays are secondary issue while there are still disagreements.

“We have cultural differences which should be respected by others. Even Europe has not reached a consensus on the issue. Europe is not only the West. For example, Poland is a conservative Christian country, Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia are closer to Armenia with their viewpoints,” Bishop Manukyan said.