«Authoritarian «Pro-Europeanism»»: Artur Danielyan

Authoritarian “Pro-Europeanism”
It's somewhat ironic that Armenia has begun speaking more openly about its aspirations to join the European Union at precisely the moment when almost everything associated with the EU has been morally bankrupted in public perception of Armenians. For decades, there was a deeply rooted stereotype that the European Union symbolized high standards of quality of life, transparent and efficient governance, a culture of political accountability, a balance between the branches of government, strong democratic institutions, and an unwavering commitment to fundamental human rights. The latter two were fetishized to such an extent that they effectively became the universal symbols of what came to be known as “European values.”
Meanwhile, Armenia’s current authorities, who claim to aspire to EU membership but in reality are engaged in geopolitical maneuvering, have, according to reports produced by those very same European analytical institutions, managed to reach historic lows in the quality of governance, the misuse of public funds, corruption, and the weakening of state institutions. Particularly noteworthy are the government’s “achievements” in protecting democracy and human rights. The fact that under the current administration, both the opposition and representatives of the ruling establishment have effectively acknowledged that nationwide elections have been illegitimate says it all really.
Superhuman Rights
In today’s Armenia, various NGOs and designated public officials who claim to defend human rights have largely become instruments of political propaganda. Depending on political expediency, they effectively decide who qualifies to be considered a human being and who does not, determining accordingly who should be deprived of all rights and who should instead be granted unquestionable, almost superhuman rights.
This selective “hyper-humanitarianism” is being publicly justified by the pretense of geopolitical pragmatism. Yet, at the ideological level, it ultimately undermines the very European Union and the values to which contemporary Armenia supposedly aspires. More importantly, this process of devaluation is reinforced by the fact that all of the above-mentioned is taking place in unison with the applause of European officials, whose own kleptocratic practices often differ little from those of their colleagues in Armenia.
The Thorny Path of Humanism
The irony of the situation goes beyond the daily practices of authoritarian kleptocrats. It’s quite fascinating to see that the European institutions that pretend to try to finally free themselves from American colonization and to build finally build a unified Europe have set aside the democratic and human-rights-centered ideology that was developed in Europe itself, and are instead operating according to the logic of American born pragmatism of late 19th century.
This is particularly striking if we consider that pragmatism is one of the few intellectual schools that did not originate in Europe, unlike democracy, socialism, communism, fascism and nazism, stoicism and nihilism, and many other “-isms,” all of which can at least technically be regarded as European values. Human rights, however, cannot be considered to be a European invention; they are more accurately seen as a broader Indo-European civilizational phenomenon, appearing as early as 539 BC in Persia under Cyrus the Great.
Cyrus was unable to bring his ideas of racial equality, religious freedom, and the abolition of slavery to Europe, because Europe as such did not yet exist. Moreover, the ancient Greeks, who quite literally stood in the way of his enlightenment mission, had a rather “American,” that is, pragmatic, understanding of these so-called liberal evils. As is well known, the “300 Spartans” were not particularly enthusiastic about considering slaves, women, or any foreigners as their equals.
About 500 years later, however, Persian enlightenment ideas eventually penetrated what was then an embryonic Europe. Recognizing the need to transform the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine decided to adopt the teachings of Christ as the ideological foundation of a more inclusive and globalized imperial system. Although Christianity originates from the Semitic Old Testament tradition, it was the Persian Magi who first testified to Christ’s divine nature, a claim that was not well received in Judea.
The Launch of Europe in the Year 301
Christianity that absorbed mythological elements from Ancient India, Persia, and Greece, and thus became Indo-European in essence, became the foundation upon which Constantine could begin the unification of Europe. The first practical implementation of this new integration approach took place in Armenia, where Gregory the Illuminator, a Parthian from Caesarea and a member of the Parthian Arsacid dynasty, integrated the Armenians into the new foreign policy framework of a Roman Union.
Pre-Christian Rome was very tolerant toward alternative religious currents, yet the integration of Celts and Gauls, Vandals and Germans, Greeks and Assyrians, Parthians and Armenians, and many other peoples that inhibited territories considered to be of interest to Rome into a unified Europe required a single institutional ideology. Integration was an existential challenge for an empire that had exhausted its old expansionist strategy.
Roman patricians could not accept that a German commander like Arminius, who had served for decades in the legions and risen to the rank of general, should have the same rights in Rome as those born into aristocratic families. A simple Gaul, on the other hand, could not understand why he should pay taxes for good quality roads, especially considering the fact that they all led to Rome where they would always be treated as second class citizens at best. Christianity offered a solution to these strategic challenges, laying the groundwork for what would later become a unified European civilizational space.
Europe: Roads and Michelangelo
In my view, “European values” can be reduced to two fundamental dimensions: roads and Michelangelo.
Roads, their quality, durability, and the economic and geopolitical significance they carry, serve as a symbol of effective public administration and the rational management of collective resources. Michelangelo, or Giordano Bruno, or any other artist or scientist who was able to transform public resources into works of art, thought, and discovery, represents the aspiration to bring humanity closer to fulfilling our destiny, to God, to Logos.
A European is, in this sense, a person who is willing to set aside a portion of his hard earned “bread” in order to build efficient roads and to finance scientists and artists so that they may elevate us toward Logos, toward God, toward a universal harmony. I consider the builders of the Library of Alexandria to be essentially European, alongside the theologians of Antioch, and the creators of the Armenian Matenadaran. Being European doesn’t not merely mean that you can paint your hair blue and march in the streets with a hedonistic and proud yet an empty look on your face. A European is anyone who contributes to civilization by transforming material resources into intellectual and spiritual elevation.
The Armenian Conspiracy
It was precisely this aspiration that led my ancestors 1,700 years ago to adopt Christianity as a state religion and become the first frontier of Europe’s defense. It was this same aspiration that led them 1,500 years ago to defend the Adriatic coast of Rome with their own forces and to build magnificent basilicas in Italian cities. It was this aspiration that led them 1,000 years ago to open the castle gates of Antioch to the first Crusaders, allowing Europe access to the Middle East, a region of vital importance.
It was this aspiration that led them to free king Baldwin II from captivity and assist in the liberation of Jerusalem. It was this aspiration that led them 900 years ago to help the Dukes of Anjou ascend the English throne and entrust them with the treasury of kingdom of Cilicia after the collapse of our state. It was this aspiration that led Armenians to serve Napoleon as his bodyguards and to facilitate a treaty between Napoleon and Tsar Paul of Russia in order to organize a joint liberation march on colonized India (for which we were severely punished a century later).
Armenians assisted the Nobel brothers in developing the European oil industry in Baku, which later became the foundation for the Nobel Prize. In 1921, the actions of Garegin Nzhdeh helped prevent the rise of Trotskyists in Moscow and, in doing so, prevented the collapse of Europe at the hands of bloodthirsty and godless ComIntern. Anastas Mikoyan, the Soviet foreign trade commissar, ensured in 1939 that a comprehensive trade agreement was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, which was intended to prevent a devastating war in Europe.
Unfortunately, the war still broke out, devastated Europe, and turned it into an American colony.
Today, in 2026, as Europe once again attempts to consolidate its vital interests and find a vital path to the Middle East, Syunik once again becomes one of the gateways of empire, and once again it is the Armenians who pay a very high price for it.
Regardless of the maneuvering a foreign-controlled ruling regime in Armenia, Armenians continue to subconsciously strive toward imperial liberation and unification. Meanwhile, the empire, often lost in its own hypocrisy, cannot decide whether the correct path is to keep plundering its budget under the guise of “pragmatism” or to start pursuing Logos… again. The empire is at a crossroad where it needs to choose either corrupt kleptocrats like Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen, or Michelangelo.
As long as European bureaucrats allow various “green” movements, financed by obscure transnational corporations, to shut down German nuclear plants and destoy their industry, as long as these movements destroy Franco-built dams and reservoirs and cause devastating floods in Spain, as long as the right-wing factions blame migrants for all of these instead of colonial agents who finance and manufacture the devastations, and as long as occupational administration in Armenia are maintained under the guise of “pro-Europeanism,” Europe will remain enslaved and will slowly disintegrate.