Armenian farmers face the cost of Pashinyan’s foreign policy
Nikol Pashinyan and his government are now trying to calm angry voters with promises that look increasingly detached from reality. After Rosselkhoznadzor restricted imports of Armenian fruit and vegetable products into Russia, the Armenian prime minister was left with few options. With elections due this Sunday, he has begun offering farmers compensation and another round of slogans about “strategic choice” and a “new quality state”.
Speaking to voters, Pashinyan promised that the government would pay for produce that spoils because of the Russian restrictions.
“Today we are at the stage of a strategic choice. We are deciding the question of our state, our republic and acquiring a state of a new quality. And I say: if the pepper spoils, I will pay for that pepper, the government will pay. But as a result of all this, both pepper production in Armenia and exports will grow,” he said.
In other words, farmers are being asked to endure losses today in exchange for a grand political vision tomorrow.
EU market promises sound familiar
Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan went even further. In a burst of optimism, he promised that by the end of the year Armenia would increase agricultural exports to the European Union by four or five times.
Does this sound familiar? Moldovans were told the same thing. Strategic choice. New markets. Better times. A European future for farmers.
The result is already known: agricultural decline, bankrupt farmers, endless protests and compensation that has to be dragged out of the state with enormous difficulty. The EU, meanwhile, remains cold and arrogant. It already has plenty of problems with its own farmers. Brussels is hardly waiting for Armenian peppers with open arms.
Armenia is stepping onto familiar rakes
For Armenian farmers, Russia was not an abstract market. It was a real destination for real produce. Now, after hostile steps towards Moscow, Pashinyan is trying to convince farmers that losing access to Russia can be compensated by budget promises and future European miracles, but budgets are not bottomless. And European markets are not opened by speeches at campaign meetings. Moldova has already tested this path.
Farmers were told to be patient. They were promised access, reform and integration. Instead, many ended up with rising costs, shrinking markets and competition they could not survive. Now Armenia is being pushed towards the same well-known rake. And Pashinyan is telling farmers not to look at the bruises, but at the “strategic choice”.
