Nobody can tell the Republic of Armenia to sit down and be quiet. This is what Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan told journalists at the National Assembly on 10 April, responding to the question about his position on the statement of the embassies of the European Union calling on Armenia to “keep calm” and not violate the rights of the LGBT community.

“Armenia has proved this several times. During the Artsakh conflict, numerous superpowers have tried to tell us to "sit down and be quiet", but we are in a situation that we take pride in. As for the rest, I have no comment,” Simonyan said.

Earlier, Armenian News-NEWS.am had reported that the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia and resident EU Member State Embassies yesterday issued a statement stating that they are gravely concerned with a number of recent cases where serious threats, including death threats, have been made against minorities and human rights defenders in Armenia.

“Hate speech, including death threats directed at Ms. Lilit Martirosyan, her colleagues and the LGBTI community as a whole represent the latest in this worrying trend and amount to discrimination prohibited under the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms to which Armenia is party and which is reflected in the Constitution of Armenia,” the statement reads.