Does PM Pashinyan really need an Armenian Foreign Intelligence Service?
In December 2022, The Armenian National Assembly (NA) approved the creation of Armenia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS). The enacted legislation clearly reflected the goal to separate the new institution from the confines of the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS), and to make it directly accountable to The Office of The Prime Minister of Armenia. In October 2023, PM Pashinyan appointed Ms. Kristine Grigorian, to the sensitive position of heading Armenia’s FIS. To many observers and experts with a good understanding of the structure of the NSS, and the mediocre contributions it made to safeguarding the “nationl interests" of Armenia since 2018, it was obvious that PM Pashinyan was heading down a rabbit hole, a move that could seriously hamper efforts to protect the “national interests” of Armenia instead of making Armenia reasonably immune to external threats. Coincidentally, in November 2023, PM Pashinyan forwarded to the NA a bill granting him the exclusive