Armenia's Euro intrigues - is the West ready for the consequences of its support?

While unpleasant processes are unfolding in Georgia under Armenia's nose, related to dreams of European integration that have not materialized, hopes of "The West will help us" continue to persist in Armenia. Armenia expects help from the West not in establishing a normal life, getting rid of stagnation and poverty, or in establishing an economy, but in realizing painful fantasies about foreign lands. We don’t know what else needs to happen for Armenian society to wake up and open its eyes to the real world. Neighbors have repeatedly been convinced by their own sad example that justice eventually prevails, no matter how many powerful guardians are on your side. But they continue to deliberately follow the same destructive path.

The ideas voiced by Western figures about the possibility of Ukraine’s integration into the EU and NATO without the annexed territories greatly inspired Armenian revanchists. A person from Nikol Pashinyan’s entourage, Tigran Khzmalyan, shared his special opinion on this issue on social media. Khzmalyan holds high-profile positions — Chairman of the European Party of Armenia and head of the Board of Governors of the Armenian branch of the Pan-European Union. Armenia’s main European intriguer shared an idea: why should Armenia not adopt the scheme proposed by Ukraine — "membership in NATO and the EU in exchange for the temporary annexation of Crimea"? Khzmalyan believes Armenia can offer itself to these structures in the same way, replacing Crimea with Karabakh in the scheme.

It is clear that no one in the EU or NATO will disgrace themselves by equating the issues of Crimea and Karabakh. It’s not that anyone can seriously consider such nonsense. Even in Armenia itself, bloggers laugh at the "intellectual abilities of supporters of the West" after Khzmalyan’s tweet. The question is that Khzmalyan is from the inner circle of the "European" Prime Minister of Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan is already not very reasonable in his fantasies, which often lead him into unknown territories. Therefore, the delusional idea of integration into NATO and the EU in exchange for, let’s say, a "temporary abandonment" of Karabakh may well take root in his mind.

Yes, Pashinyan has repeatedly declared recognition of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, called on society to forget about the territories, and build a real Armenia. But the same Pashinyan refuses to remove territorial claims to neighbors from the basic law of his country, twisting and turning, demonstrating a clear reluctance to deprive Armenians of this loophole for future manipulations. It has already been said and retold a hundred times that, according to the same Constitution, it will always stand above any international treaties. Therefore, Khzmalyan’s frankness leads to certain conclusions. Namely, Armenia is not going to give up its claims to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan but simply postpones the issue until, with the help of the EU and NATO, it strengthens and starts again as a member of these organizations.

Nonsense...

The idea, of course, is crazy, but our neighbors didn’t come up with this on their own. How can we explain the increased militarization of Armenia? Increasingly, locations and satellite images of strongholds and military units growing like mushrooms after rain on the conditional border are being published on social media. These are not fakes, but real facts that show the Armenian side, hiding behind the backs of the Europeans, is actively preparing for a new war. While they think they are distracting our attention with their binoculars and blue vests, Armenia is making serious preparations. Yerevan seems to have grandiose plans. In 2025, the cost of war has been increased in the state budget by 20 percent to $1.713 billion. Finance Minister Vahe Hovhannisyan solemnly reported that military spending in 2025 will amount to 6 percent of GDP, which is 0.7 percent more than in 2024. 55.8 percent of the capital budget expenditures will be directed to militarization. Hovhannisyan spoke about it with pride, but in fact, it is a harbinger of the coming collapse of Armenian statehood.

The Armenian expert community is cheering like fans at a stadium, waiting for the country to begin closing the gap with Azerbaijan. Despite the growth of the military budget, Armenia is still inferior to Baku, military expert Leonid Nersesyan tells Armenian journalists with regret. But, according to him, Armenia sets a new record in military spending every year. In 2024, the amount of military spending was the highest in the country’s history. But... Baku has not caught up with Yerevan yet, Nersesyan laments.

All hope is in the West. And the West does not fail — it helps Armenia arm itself and covers its militaristic aspirations. I remember that the press secretary of the European Commission for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Peter Stano, stood up for Armenian honor in response to accusations from Baku. "Armenia has the sovereign right to work on its defense potential, as well as to choose its partners, including in the field of security and defense," Stano said, offended on behalf of the Armenians. And he added: the support of Armenia from the European Peace Facility does not include the provision of weapons, especially offensive ones.

And no one says that the fund will allocate money to Armenians for tanks and drones. This money will be spent on other purposes in the interests of Armenia — on espionage, provocations, sabotage, various undercover operations. By the way, the EU observation mission is already engaged in this, which does not see the military preparations of the Armenian side. Armenians are very lucky in general — they are like ghosts and invisibles. At one time, the digging of trenches and the creation of fortifications by Armenian separatists in Karabakh were "not noticed" by Russian peacekeepers, and now the Europeans have miraculously "gone blind."

Meanwhile, preparations are underway in Armenia. We know about it, the Armenians know, their guardians know, Peter Stano and others know. Everyone, including Armenia and its patrons, is well aware of Baku’s lack of occupation plans. Four years ago, Azerbaijan could have regained Zangezur and other territories illegally transferred to the Armenians, and no one in the world could have prevented this. They would have shouted, made noise, and then resigned themselves. But Azerbaijan has never set such a goal. The goal was to liberate its internationally recognized territories, and it achieved it.

Armenia wants to somehow raise its self-esteem by winning at least some small victory, by seizing at least something and putting its flag there. It’s very funny to make such plans, even if the powers are behind you. The powers have always stood behind Armenia in all its criminal plans, but it has been left with nothing. It will be left with even less than nothing if it tries to repeat the aggression. You don’t need to be a military expert to understand that, in this case, there will be no trace left of its artificially created statehood. Let the neighbors open their eyes and take a closer look at what is happening in the world. They expect to take advantage of the situation. And they do not understand that the situation will take advantage of them.