Expert: Pashinyan’s speech in Armenian at the SCO+ summit suggests a political motive

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the only speaker not in Russian at the SCO+ summit, took a step back from Eurasian integration and future participation in the CIS, noted Igor Shestakov, head of the Kyrgyz center for expert initiatives “Oy Ordo” (“Thought Center”) in the interview to TASS.

“Nikol Pashinyan’s speech in the state language at the SCO+ summit indicates that the Armenian leader has taken another step back from Eurasian integration and, possibly, future participation in the CIS. Russian, I remind, is the official language for the entire SCO format,” Shestakov said.

The expert noted that Pashinyan “has an excellent command of Russian,” and his speech in Armenian suggests a political motive. “Recently, Yerevan has been making strides toward the European Union. And Perhaps the Armenian Prime Minister has chosen this way to advance Armenia’s bid for EU membership,” he noted.