Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, speaking Tuesday during a panel discussion at the Armenian Forum for Democracy being held in Yerevan, noted that in terms of democracy, people in Armenia live according to the Joseph Stalin and Leonid Brezhnev model.

“Who is the leader and defender of democracy and the bearer of democratic values in Armenia? An exceptional situation has been created at the moment. The bearer of these values is the current [Armenian] government,” Pashinyan said.

In his opinion, the current leaders of democracy in Armenia are its government and civil society.

The premier noted that taking into account political, ideological, and conceptual changes as well as the way issues are raised, a wider space for democracy has recently begun to emerge in Armenia.

“We are opening this space. We want all issues to be discussed. The questions must be raised... We all live by the patriotism model of Stalin, [Nikita] Khrushchev and Brezhnev, and the Stalinist worldview,” the PM of Armenia said.

Pashinyan believes that democracy in Armenia cannot be perfect.

“After all, we think with the same theories that Stalin formulated. We think with the expressions and viewpoints that he instilled. Today, there is no protection of democracy,” the Armenian PM concluded.