Opposition and foreign forces are hysterical as this is their last  chance to reclaim Armenia, to put it back in the very "pocket" from  which we escaped: Pashinyan

ArmInfo.Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan considers the 2026 parliamentary elections a good opportunity to rid the National Assembly of agents of foreign influence and their leaders through a popular vote. Pashinyan made this statements in his concluding remarks during the parliamentary debates on the 2026 state budget draft  on November 13.

"Armenian citizens accuse us of still reacting to Robert Kocharyan,  Serzh Sargsyan, and the forces they lead. Sometimes citizens say: it  sometimes  seems  very convenient for you to have such conversations  so as to avoid discussing real problems and finding solutions for  them. Indeed, this issue must be resolved, and the way to resolve it  is that parliamentary elections will take place soon, and it must be  ensured that the forces led by these individuals are not represented  in parliament. If they are, the same situation will continue. The  time has come to resolve this issue," Pashinyan stated.

As Pashinyan pointed out, an opposition MP accuses him of appointing  an agent of influence from another country to a high-ranking position  in the Armed Forces " That was yesterday. Today he  came and defended  the same person as a persecuted individual.

"This means that, despite certain personal issues, they have the same  status and receive instructions from the same source about who to  protect and who not to. This issue must be resolved in these  elections, as these political forces and their leaders are similar,  supposedly, agents of influence in the Republic of Armenia,"  Pashinyan noted, emphasizing that "these agents of influence from  another country want to instill disgust and contempt towards  today's  Republic of Armenia." Addressing the opposition, the Prime Minister  added that, as of 2018, "Armenia was in the pocket of that very  country whose agents of influence are the aforementioned  individuals."

"Today, Armenia is not only an independent state, but also has a  center of sovereign will and can make decisions," he assured.

Pashinyan said he wants everyone to understand how and by what means  Armenia "ended up in this pocket." "There is only one explanation-the  Karabakh issue. No other reason," he emphasized authoritatively.  According to the Prime Minister, today Armenia has escaped the trap.

In this context, the Prime Minister also addressed the ARF  Dashnaktsutyun representatives who hold parliamentary mandates. "For  70 years, your party has been an agent of influence for this country  worldwide." Today they're crying over the church. What was the  building on Abovyan Street doing in the 1960s? How did it happen that  in the USSR, an atheistic state, there was a Union for Relations with  Compatriots? What did it do? This party remains a spy network for  this country's influence. No matter which country, we must decide  whether we tolerate another country's network of agents of influence  in our parliament, in our most sacred place. My answer is no,"  Pashinyan emphasized.

The Prime Minister is convinced that opposition circles and external  forces are now hysterical because this is their last chance to  reclaim our state, to place it back in the very "pocket" from which  we escaped.