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Armenia Accepts Russian Veto On Foreign Military Cooperation

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  • Armenia Accepts Russian Veto On Foreign Military Cooperation

    EurasiaNet.org, NY
    Oct 5 2012

    Armenia Accepts Russian Veto On Foreign Military Cooperation

    October 5, 2012 - 8:12am, by Joshua Kucera


    Armenia has ratified a protocol that would allow Russia a veto over
    any foreign military installations in its country, but not without
    some grumbling. An agreement reached last year by the Collective
    Security Treaty Organization allows any CSTO member to have a say in
    whether another member can host a foreign military base. This week,
    Armenia's parliament ratified that agreement, but with some lawmakers
    complaining that it infringed on the country's sovereignty, and the
    parliament's second-largest bloc abstaining from the vote, reports
    ArmeniaNow:


    On October 4, the Parliament ratified the Protocol on the Location of
    Military Installations in Collective Security Treaty Organization
    (OSCE) Member Countries that was signed still in December 2011 and
    under which Armenia is not entitled to host military forces or other
    infrastructure of other states without the permission of the CSTO...

    Opposition Heritage faction MP Alexander Arzumanyan, who represents
    the Free Democrats party and served as Armenia's minister of foreign
    affairs in the 1990s, said during the debate in the National Assembly
    that the Protocol limits Armenia's sovereign rights and humiliates the
    nation's dignity. In the end, only five lawmakers in the 131-member
    body, including Arzumanyan, voted against the ratification. The second
    largest faction in the Armenian parliament, Prosperous Armenia [which
    holds 37 seats], opted out of the vote.

    In addition to Armenia, the CSTO includes Belarus, Kazakhstan,
    Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, but is dominated by Russia. It doesn't
    seem likely that Armenia would host any other country's military, but
    it is nevertheless a pretty extraordinary abdication of sovereignty.
    Armenia, though, a relatively democratic country in the CSTO (not a
    high standard in this club) is in a somewhat unique position to have
    some public debate on it, even if the protocol was eventually passed.

    http://www.eurasianet.org/node/66006

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