It is a direction in connection with which I have a very positive disposition because I believe these values—democracy, human rights, freedom of speech—are the fundamental principles that, frankly unexpected for me, have become the security system of our country today. Armenian National Assembly (NA) speaker Alen Simonyan stated this in a briefing with reporters in the NA Wednesday—and addressing the question of whether he considers Armenia's European integration realistic.

"No one can deny that when, for example, our partners were making absurd statements... when, for example, Azerbaijan had launched a large-scale attack on Nagorno-Karabakh from 15 sides, our ally [i.e. Russia] was announcing, ‘We call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to cease fire.’ With that, they wanted to turn Armenia into a party. And we see that there were targeted statements and restraint from other places during those actions," said the speaker of the Armenian legislature.