Remarks by the Minister of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan at the roundtable of the High-level International Conference on Information Integrity and Independent Media

On October 29, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan participated in the roundtable of the High-level International Conference on Information Integrity and Independent Media.

The discussion was held within the framework of the 8th Paris Peace Forum, which this year is taking place under the theme "New Coalitions for Peace, People and the Planet."

The full text of Minister Mirzoyan's remarks is presented below.

"Dear Ministers, dear colleagues,

First of all, I want to thank Minister Barrot for the invitation to this timely discussion.

We are meeting at a critical time when access to reliable information and independent media plays a crucial role in advancing democratic ideals, yet at the same time digital technologies and artificial intelligence are being instrumentalized for large scale fake news and disinformation campaigns, for targeting individuals and societies, inciting hate and violence, for facilitating human rights violations.

Of course, like any democracy these days, Armenia is also facing a huge wave of hybrid threats, including disinformation, manipulation and foreign interferences. These are not random acts of disruption. These are targeted, systematic, hostile campaigns designed to achieve specific goals, including undermining our sovereignty and trust in democratic institutions, and sabotaging the aspirations for cooperation and like-minded partnerships.

Confronting these challenges has become a daily activity. There comes the dilemma and the delicate line between upholding the freedom of expression, pluralistic media from one side, and from the other side the decisiveness to confront the maline actors aiming to misuse the freedom and undermine the trust in the society, our democracy itself. We do recognize that those efforts will only increase as Armenia is heading towards parliamentary elections next year.

So what is the key in this situation? Democracy itself, I believe. To protect the democracy in Armenia we should rely on democracy itself and the mechanisms it provides. We can just look back to our own history: to the political crisis and elections in 2021 as a vivid example of what I said.

Of course, we cannot overcome this challenge alone. We have built and are working continuously towards enhanced like-minded partnerships which contribute to Armenia's resilience. This includes the deepening of our multilayered partnership with the European Union, strategic engagement with France, among other EU countries, and partners who have established strong democratic institutions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

According to the latest 2025 World Press Freedom Index of Reporters without Borders, Armenia has improved its position again, moving up 9 points in the country ranking, from 43rdto 34thamong 180.

Recognizing the importance of healthy information ecosystems in every part of the world, Armenia is taking a leadership role in the Partnership for Information and Democracy, by joining the newly established Consultative Committee of States of the Partnership, which builds upon our past collaboration. In the same logic, we are also joiningthe International Fund for Public Interest Media.

Concluding, I want to once again state that Armenia endorses the Paris Declaration on Multilateral Action for Information Integrity and Independent Media.

Thank you."