Europe came to Yerevan through a souvenir shop

How did the VIII Summit of the European Political Community go in Armenia?

On May 4 and 5, the summit of the European Political Community was held in Yerevan, about 50 leaders of European countries arrived in Armenia, and the Prime Minister of Canada joined them not by geography, but by value principle.

There has never been such a large gathering of politicians in Yerevan in the entire history - from Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Zelensky to the leadership of the EU - Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa. Even the head of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was present - via video link, which in itself looked like a metaphor for relations in the region: formally together, in fact - at a distance.

For two days, Yerevan became a place where Europe tried to talk to itself and at the same time consider Armenia - in fact, the only country in the South Caucasus that chose European integration.

The summit of the European political community was conceived in the early days of the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and does not imply any important agreements - rather behind-the-scenes meetings and joyful photo sessions for social networks. Social networks immediately exploded - the best SMM was carried out by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (and this is understandable - he has elections soon) and the President of France Emmanuel Macron.

It must be said that the Prime Minister of Armenia these days was very interesting to watch, but not from a political point of view, but from a universal human point of view. It was clear through the screen that he was bursting with joy and pride, and indeed, there was something to be proud of - such a landing had never reached the country.

True, not everyone managed to get to Yerevan on the first try - the plane of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez made an emergency landing in Ankara due to technical problems (which is also symbolic, given the dialogue between Armenia and Turkey that had just begun), but flew successfully the next day. Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz also arrived in Yerevan and agreed with Pashinyan on the restoration of the historical Ani Bridge, part of the ancient Silk Road connecting Asia and Europe (the visit of a Turkish official of this level occurred for the first time since 2008).

From the outside, the summit gave the impression of a very informal friendly meeting of old friends - at the airport, women were greeted not with official roses and bows, but with beautiful bouquets of lilacs.

The delegates walked around the city a lot, they were fed in a restaurant, where even an ordinary tourist can go. The entrance to the restaurant is through the souvenir shop, so social networks have gone viral with footage of politicians looking at the shelves and buying all sorts of tourist stuff. There was a feeling that Europe had really entered Yerevan through a souvenir shop - carefully, with interest, but still as a tourist, and not as an equal interlocutor.

The President of France went for a run in the morning - an almost ritual gesture, but in the context of a city that suddenly found itself in the center of Europe, it looked like an attempt to fit into the space. A video immediately spread across the networks in which he was running in sports uniform, surrounded by guards, and plump Armenian mongrels were running next to him, somehow unmistakably determining who was in power here. On the evening of May 4, Macron and Pashinyan finally sang together - Mr. President sang, the Prime Minister played the drums. They promised to perform the same duet on the square in Gyumri the next evening, but changed their minds - the French President limited himself to a speech about boundless love.

Residents of houses located next to the National Assembly building suffered the most. From 8 a.m. they had to listen to almost a complete collection of European hymns. European integration came from an unexpected place.

On the second day, there were a few rallies, the echoes of which were most likely pro-Russian, shouting something about “rat” and “go away.” The police, who were not very Yerevan-like, dragged someone into a paddy wagon - the rally quickly ended. There was no longer any sense of Russia these days. And in a parallel reality, Russian channels were torn and torn for two days. This rapprochement between Armenia and Europe and the appearance of the President of Ukraine in Yerevan did not go unnoticed, and, in all likelihood, may inspire the Russian authorities to make further threats and sanctions.

The summit turned out to be a mix of a serious agenda and almost tourist delight. For two days, Yerevan became the place where Europe tried to look whole.

It turned out - how it happened. And then - again reality, in which no souvenir shop will help. “How do you feel about the summit?” — I wrote in the evening to my Armenian friend, who is involved in modern Armenian politics. “SamIt is dill in Armenian,” he answered briefly.

Anna Kachurovskaya, Yerevan