Kocharyan: Armenia-NATO Partnership Key to Resilience

Armenia highly values its interaction with NATO, considering it a platform not only for official but also for systemic reforms that contribute to the strengthening of our country's independence and institutional resilience. This was stated by the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Affairs, the head of the Armenian delegation to the NATO PA, Andranik Kocharyan, on September 22, in his opening speech at the 108th Rose-Roth seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly on "Armenia and the South Caucasus in a Changing World: Strengthening Democracy and Regional Security" held in Yerevan.

"Our cooperation is based on universal values: democracy, security, protection of human rights, and the rule of law... This relationship is of particular importance in this multipolar, unpredictable, and often unstable world, becoming an important pillar of security and sustainable development," said Kocharyan.

"We cannot ignore the global geopolitical changes that are shaping new realities with new challenges and a competitive agenda. In this context, I would especially like to emphasize the key role of the Armenia-NATO partnership." Kocharyan recalled that Armenia's involvement in cooperation with NATO includes reforms of defense and security systems, increasing the transparency of governance, strengthening civilian control, as well as participation in international peacekeeping missions. "Currently, discussions are underway on the approval of a new cooperation document - an individually tailored partnership program," he noted.

The speaker paid special attention to hybrid threats, disinformation, and manipulations in the information environment. According to him, Armenia is currently fighting against the volume of disinformation aimed at manipulating public sentiment and undermining state policy. "In the context of combating these threats, we emphasize the importance of raising public awareness and digital literacy, promoting the establishment of media and civil society, as well as exchanging international experience in the field of information security," the MP stressed.