YEREVAN. – Some forces in Armenia are contributing more to the distortion of the image of our potential than the adversaries. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hayastan (Armenia) All Armenian Fund, on Tuesday stated this at the board’s annual meeting in capital city Yerevan.

In his words, each and every Armenian has an emotional connection with the Fund.

“That can be realized if you pass through the road connecting Karabakh [(Artsakh)] and Armenia, as well as with the built schools and kindergartens,” he said. “All this shows what an important mission the Fund is carrying out during more than 25 years of activity.”

Pashinyan added, however, that in new times new approaches are used in the activities of the Fund, and for this reason, the opposite side of the activity is also worth assessing.

“We must evaluate what negative impact the Fund’s activities have had on the image of the Armenian potential,” he added. “Every year we collect 15, 20, 25 million [US] dollars, which are spent on very important projects. But external forces spend billions of dollars in order to resist the Armenian influence. Not only the activities of this or that organization are important, but also what effect they have on the image of Armenians.”

The Armenian PM stressed that it is important for everyone to truly assess what problems exist.

“The people’s perception should be changed,” he said. “They need to realize that by making an investing in the Fund’s budget, they are [actually] making an investment to the [Armenian] national budget. Also, paying taxes to the budget should be perceived by citizens as an investment, not a loss, in their lives. The philosophy should be changed. The result should be more visible, and the road that is constructed through the Fund [should] be a development tool, not just asphalt.”

He said it should be taken into account that challenges become more serious in the 21st century, and the respective response by all Armenians should be appropriate.

“The presidents and governments are transient, whereas the people and the Homeland—forever,” Nikol Pashinyan concluded. “We must become the guarantor of eternity of our people and our state. All problems should be resolved today.”