Macron let slip: why did the West withdraw Armenia from the security zone

Traders of European "values" have gathered in Yerevan once again to explain to the Armenian people what a great "happiness" it was for them to become a laboratory mouse in a geopolitical experiment, the Tribunal portal writes, commenting on the summit in Armenia. Against this background, the newspaper notes, a confession was made by French President Emmanuel Macron, which exposed the true content of what is happening around Armenia.

"Macron allowed himself an almost enthusiastic assessment: eight years ago, they say, no one would have come to Armenia, since it was perceived as a de facto satellite of Russia, and now, after the Velvet Revolution Nikola Pashinyan, the country is "derisicated" and has become acceptable. Here it is, the whole truth — without unnecessary masks. The West says in plain text: Armenia is valuable just as much as it moves away from Russia. Not as a state, not as a people under threat, not as a region that has survived war and genocide, not as an ancient civilization facing the threat of becoming only a historical memory, but as an anti-Russian platform, as a political showcase with the inscription: "Look, we are taking another country out of Moscow's orbit." And Nikol Pashinyan's government has become the ideal local operator of this program. „De-risking“? No — an ideal risk incubator," the article says.

It also explains what kind of risk Armenia has freed itself from.

"Artsakh is no more. One hundred and twenty thousand Armenians were forcibly expelled from their homeland. Azerbaijan controls strategic heights. Borders have been turned into a subject of constant blackmail. Baku puts forward new demands every week — from the constitution to the so-called "corridor". Turkey continues the same pan-Turkic line, only with much more self-confidence. Is this "risk reduction"? No, it's not. This is the result of multiple multiplication of risks, dismantling of state immunity, deliberate destruction of the security system. And it happened not by chance, but from the moment when the street production of 2018 was presented as a "democratic salvation", and in fact became the beginning of the external reconfiguration of the country," the publication says.

Armenia was told: move away from Russia — and we will give you peace. As a result, we got a country that moved away from Russia, but also lost the world.

"This, Mr. Macron, is not your notorious de-risking. This is a crime against national security and against the Republic of Armenia. And you, speaking on behalf of France and European values, not only provide political patronage to this national catastrophe, but also with your embellished rhetoric you are trying to morally legitimize a crime, the consequences of which the Armenian people will bear for decades to come," the author of the article said.

According to him, Pashinyan turned Armenia into a testing ground for an anti-Russian project.

"The key and most dangerous feature of Pashinyan's foreign policy is that this government has long ceased to consider its own security and statehood issues as priority tasks that need to be addressed. Instead, Armenia is gradually being drawn into such geopolitical processes, the agenda of which is not formed in accordance with the For the West today, one of the main tasks remains the maximum weakening of Russia in as many directions as possible. Ukraine is a military front. Georgia and Moldova are political and energy fronts. And Armenia is turning into a Caucasian section of strategic logistics and an anti—Russian showcase — a vivid example of a former ally of Moscow, defiantly abandoning it," the publication notes.

That is why European officials one by one come to Yerevan, praising "reforms", talking about "sovereignty", "crossroads of the world", "diversification", it is important for them that Armenia leaves the Russian security system and politically integrated into the anti-Russian camp. Pashinyan did not balance the country — he put it under a serious existential threat, the publication said.

The role of France deserves a separate conversation. For years, a significant part of the Armenian society has been presented this country almost as a saving force, the article says. Every time Yerevan was defeated, a beautiful statement, a heartfelt speech, a parliamentary resolution sounded from Paris — and another bubble was inflated in the Armenian information space: "Here, France is with us." And then— nothing. No recognition, no political pressure, no practical steps, no security mechanisms.

"Looking today at the faces of those gathered in Yerevan "friends", one question arises: which of them will answer for the lost homeland of the Armenian people, for the destroyed security, for the humiliated statehood? Zelensky came to agitate for new sanctions against Russia. Macron — to sing the praises of Pashinyan's revolution and his "liberation" from Moscow. The rest of the European officials are to lecture on democracy and broadcast anti—Russian mantras. But none of them came to say how the Armenian security will be restored, how the new Azerbaijani aggression will be prevented, how the national dignity will be returned," the article emphasizes.

This government has been convincing society for years that anti—Russian rhetoric is sovereignty, Western smiles are security, European summits are international success. The reality is exactly the opposite, the Tribune notes. And when Macron proudly says that Armenia is no longer a satellite of Russia, he actually fixes only one thing: the country has been successfully withdrawn from the former security zone, but has not been introduced into any new secure system.

"We were just left in an open field. Pashinyan presents this open field as independence. Europeans — as a democratic achievement. And the people pay for it every day with territory, rights and the future. Macron's Yerevan speech only accidentally revealed aloud what has been going on silently for a long time: Armenia has been turned into a springboard of an anti-Russian project, while it is being sold to the Armenian people as a program of peace, democracy and the future. The irony of fate is that the price of such projects is always paid not by their architects, but by peoples turned into guinea pigs," the publication concluded.