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PACE AS LEVER OF WESTERN PRESSURE ON YEREVAN JOINING EAEU
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
June 19 2014
19 June 2014 - 12:08pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
On June 17-18th co-reporters of the PACE Monitoring Commission
on Armenia, Acsel Fisher and Alan Mill, visited Armenia. The last
time they visited Armenia was in January 2012. Meanwhile, Armenia
is still being monitored, as a country which hasn't fulfilled all
the recommendations of the Council of Europe. In this context, the
co-reporters should visit Armenia every two years at least, but they
haven't appeared for 2.5 years.
What is the reason for the unexpected visit?
The PACE Monitoring Commission is an important political lever
of pressure of the West on the vulnerable administration of Serge
Sargsyan, which came to power on the rebound of the events of March
1st 2008. The topic of March 1st is touched on in all PACE resolutions
on Armenia adopted in the last six years.
At the same time, the co-reporters' behaviour was aimed at protecting
Serge Sargsyan's administration, the government, and the parliamentary
majority. It caused dissatisfaction of the opposition, civil society
and relatives of the people who perished on March 1st. They are
indignant about the fact that the 1837 resolution of PACE on October
5th 2011 states that "the page of the events of March 1st is closed."
Some experts believe that the PACE promoted the positions of the West,
which is interested in Sargsyan's administration being in power in
Armenia, despite their statements on support of democratic processes.
The Armenian authorities realized that the Council of Europe wouldn't
investigate the events of March 1st 2008 in detail and blocked all
attempts by the opposition to establish a parliamentary commission
to investigate the developments.
In December 2012 the parliamentary majority offered the opposition
a compromise: in order to avoid politicization of the matter ahead
of the presidential elections the discussion should be postponed to
the postelection period. The speaker of the parliament, the current
premier Ovik Abramyan, gave public guarantees that the question on
establishing a commission on the events of March 1st would have been
included on the agenda right after the elections and the Republican
Party of Armenia would have voted for the draft. However, in spring
2013 the parliamentary majority rejected the opposition's draft on
the commission.
In February 2014 the Armenian National Congress tried to revive
discussion in parliament on establishing the commission. That time
the authorities blocked the initiative by the opposition once again.
"Such behaviour by the authorities confirms that a series of crimes
leads to the top authorities of the country; it explains the policy
of hiding information about the events of March 1st," the head of
the ANC Levon Zurabyan thinks.
Representatives of the opposition in the PACE tried to achieve a
second analysis of the events on March 1st, but due to efforts of
various PACE officials these initiatives were blocked.
It turns out that the PACE Monitoring Commission has never taken
any steps against the Armenian government. During the current visit,
the co-reporters stated for the first time that those guilty of the
deaths of 10 innocent people hadn't been found, even though so many
years had passed.
It seems PACE's shift from hushing-up the tragedy to such a strict
position is connected with the inconsistent foreign policy of official
Yerevan. The West is dissatisfied with Sargsyan's decision to join the
Eurasian Economic Union. PACE is still one of the levers of pressure
on the Armenian government by the West. We can't rule out that a new
resolution on Armenia, which will be developed by PACE in summer,
will be unpleasant for the Yerevan authorities.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/56623.html
Vestnik Kavkaza, Russia
June 19 2014
19 June 2014 - 12:08pm
Susanna Petrosyan, Yerevan. Exclusively to Vestnik Kavkaza
On June 17-18th co-reporters of the PACE Monitoring Commission
on Armenia, Acsel Fisher and Alan Mill, visited Armenia. The last
time they visited Armenia was in January 2012. Meanwhile, Armenia
is still being monitored, as a country which hasn't fulfilled all
the recommendations of the Council of Europe. In this context, the
co-reporters should visit Armenia every two years at least, but they
haven't appeared for 2.5 years.
What is the reason for the unexpected visit?
The PACE Monitoring Commission is an important political lever
of pressure of the West on the vulnerable administration of Serge
Sargsyan, which came to power on the rebound of the events of March
1st 2008. The topic of March 1st is touched on in all PACE resolutions
on Armenia adopted in the last six years.
At the same time, the co-reporters' behaviour was aimed at protecting
Serge Sargsyan's administration, the government, and the parliamentary
majority. It caused dissatisfaction of the opposition, civil society
and relatives of the people who perished on March 1st. They are
indignant about the fact that the 1837 resolution of PACE on October
5th 2011 states that "the page of the events of March 1st is closed."
Some experts believe that the PACE promoted the positions of the West,
which is interested in Sargsyan's administration being in power in
Armenia, despite their statements on support of democratic processes.
The Armenian authorities realized that the Council of Europe wouldn't
investigate the events of March 1st 2008 in detail and blocked all
attempts by the opposition to establish a parliamentary commission
to investigate the developments.
In December 2012 the parliamentary majority offered the opposition
a compromise: in order to avoid politicization of the matter ahead
of the presidential elections the discussion should be postponed to
the postelection period. The speaker of the parliament, the current
premier Ovik Abramyan, gave public guarantees that the question on
establishing a commission on the events of March 1st would have been
included on the agenda right after the elections and the Republican
Party of Armenia would have voted for the draft. However, in spring
2013 the parliamentary majority rejected the opposition's draft on
the commission.
In February 2014 the Armenian National Congress tried to revive
discussion in parliament on establishing the commission. That time
the authorities blocked the initiative by the opposition once again.
"Such behaviour by the authorities confirms that a series of crimes
leads to the top authorities of the country; it explains the policy
of hiding information about the events of March 1st," the head of
the ANC Levon Zurabyan thinks.
Representatives of the opposition in the PACE tried to achieve a
second analysis of the events on March 1st, but due to efforts of
various PACE officials these initiatives were blocked.
It turns out that the PACE Monitoring Commission has never taken
any steps against the Armenian government. During the current visit,
the co-reporters stated for the first time that those guilty of the
deaths of 10 innocent people hadn't been found, even though so many
years had passed.
It seems PACE's shift from hushing-up the tragedy to such a strict
position is connected with the inconsistent foreign policy of official
Yerevan. The West is dissatisfied with Sargsyan's decision to join the
Eurasian Economic Union. PACE is still one of the levers of pressure
on the Armenian government by the West. We can't rule out that a new
resolution on Armenia, which will be developed by PACE in summer,
will be unpleasant for the Yerevan authorities.
http://vestnikkavkaza.net/analysis/politics/56623.html