"Strong Armenia" faction aims to bring genuine diversification to  European Integration Committee work — Narek Karapetyan

ArmInfo. The "Strong Armenia" parliamentary faction intends to introduce genuine diversification into the work of the National Assembly's Standing  Committee on European Integration, faction leader Narek Karapetyan told reporters on August 12, 2026.

Karapetyan clarified that true diversification entails fostering  actual growth in trade turnover between Armenia and the European  Union while implementing advanced European institutional models  within the country. He assured that the committee will operate  dynamically to ensure the public witnesses tangible results of  diversification.

"There is a misconception that our bloc is exclusively in favor of a  single direction of cooperation, and that is not true. We advocate  for the country having as many partners as possible to ensure our  state's economy remains stable. In this context, you will all witness  how and at what pace we revitalize the work of this committee,"  Karapetyan stated, adding that the faction's nominee for committee  chair will be announced the following day.

The faction leader emphasized that committee members must leverage  their experience to articulate the nation's challenges on European  platforms and invigorate the committee's agenda. He stressed the  primary need to adopt European expertise to reform Armenia's judicial  system and expand bilateral trade.

"We constantly talk about the priority of developing relations with  the EU, but our trade turnover with European countries is tens of  times smaller than with EAEU states, while we simultaneously ignore  the best practices of European institutions. We adopt only the brand  without addressing the necessity for judicial independence,"  Karapetyan noted.

He further stated that Armenia's economic situation is quite complex  and is projected to intensify over the next six months, making it  imperative to find practical solutions to escape the current economic  impasse.  Pointing out that roughly 65% of the country's total trade  turnover is tied to a single state—a pathway he claims the  authorities are undermining—he also criticized the pursuit of the EU  vector in the absence of robust economic integration, noting that  Armenian exports to France have experienced a 10% decline over the  past eight years.