There was no real need to open the Armenian Embassy in Vatican. Amid the economic crisis and shortage of budget funds, one could have combined the activities of several diplomatic missions in one embassy, for instance, in Vienna, Levon Zurabyan, Head of the opposition Armenian National Congress Faction, said during today's parliamentary hearings on the draft state budget 2014.
The oppositionist said that Armenia is not a great power to afford to open embassies throughout the world.
For his part, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan said that concentration of several diplomatic missions in one embassy considerably reduces the efficiency of the embassy. In response, Zurabyan pointed out that Shavarsh Kocharyan apparently did not know the real background of opening of Armenia's Embassy in Vatican. "The opening of the Embassy had only one goal - to provide Serzh Sargsyan's son-in-law Mikayel Minasyan with a good job, i.e. to appoint him ambassador", said Zurabyan.