Country`s democratic forces will support authorities in matter of  Armenia`s European orientation in every possible way  - Aram Sargsyan

ArmInfo. The extra-parliamentary democratic forces of Armenia will support the country's authorities in the matter of Armenia's European orientation in every possible way Leader of the Republic Party, Aram Sargsyan announced on June 21 during the parliamentary hearings on the initiative of the "Platform of Democratic Forces" to join the  European Union.

According to him, assistance will be provided by the full potential  of extra-parliamentary forces. At the same time, Sargsyan continued,  these forces will criticize all those actions that will hinder the  republic's joining to the EU. The politician noted that all  developments in the country since 2020 have a geopolitical focus."  Today everyone is interested in the same question: which direction  will Armenia move in, towards civilized Europe or will it remain  where it is? The answer to this question has divided Armenian society  into three groups. One group insists on further rapprochement with  Russia, regardless of whether Moscow fulfills its obligations or not,  the second group adheres to maintaining relations with Moscow, while  simultaneously developing ties with the Western community, and  finally, the third group is in favor of the country joining the EU  family, which I belong to. We must finally make a political choice,  taking the necessary real steps in this direction," the politician  said. He added that if the opposition's demands are met, the Armenian  side will have to abandon the European Union observation mission,  purchase weapons from France and other countries, and withdraw French  and American military experts from the country. "In other words, from  the point of view of armaments, to continue to remain a backward  state, which Azerbaijan will certainly take advantage of. In this  case, there will be losses with democracy: there will be no free  press, there will be no opportunity to freely express one's  position," Sargsyan noted, adding that at present it is necessary to  seize the moment. Sargsyan recalled that early parliamentary  elections will soon be held in Azerbaijan, which will be accompanied  by aggressive calls to obtain the necessary number of votes. "Ilham  Aliyev will actively adhere to this rhetoric, which will be  encouraged by Moscow. The Armenian authorities themselves recognize  the possibility of new provocations from Azerbaijan. The only  guarantor of excluding such developments is the collective West,  including the EU. For this reason, four political parties recommend  that the authorities hold a nationwide referendum within 3-4 months  regarding applying to join the EU. Thus, the people will have the  opportunity to speak out about the directions and paths of the  country's development. Yes, a huge amount of work will need to be  done on the path to European integration, which may take years, but  we need to take the first step," the politician noted.  A few days  earlier, the Platform of Democratic Forces, whose members are the  "Republic" party (chairman - Aram Sargsyan), the  Rally For The  Republic Party (chairman Arman Babajanyan), the Christian Democratic  Party (chairman Levon Shirinyan) and the European Party (chairman  Tigran Khzmalyan), proposed that the country's authorities hold a  referendum on Armenia's membership in the European Union within the  next 4 months.