In politics, symbols sometimes speak louder than official statements  - expert 

ArmInfo.In politics, symbols sometimes speak louder than official statements. Political scientist and Doctor of Political Science Vahe Davtyan writes about this in his article.

He recalled that the day before, European Commissioner Marta Kos  ceremoniously announced the arrival of the first symbolic shipment of  Armenian apricots to the EU, publishing a photo with RA Minister of  Territorial Administration and Infrastructure David Khudatyan holding  apricots. "Is this the Armenia we want to present to the world? When  Armenia's European 'success story' is represented by a few apricots  instead of infrastructure, industry, energy, high technology,  transport corridors, and strategic projects, it's not just about  agricultural exports. It's about the country's symbolic positioning.  Globally, countries compete with each other on artificial  intelligence, microchips, nuclear energy, logistics centers, and  technological ecosystems. Against this backdrop, we are called upon  to be proud that Armenian apricots have reached Europe," the  political scientist emphasized.

According to him, apricots are a wonderful product, an important  symbol of Armenian culture. And the political calculation behind this  action is more than obvious. But when apricots are exclusively at the  center of a country's foreign economic relations, it, consciously or  unwittingly, positions itself as an agricultural periphery, rather  than as a country with industrial, technological, and engineering  potential. "The most telling thing here is the photograph itself. It  effectively reflects the peripheral perception of Armenia by  Europeans. The same photograph could have been taken of an Armenian  farmer, but not the Minister of Infrastructure," Vahe Davtyan noted.