Europeans are exposing Nikol Pashinyan

“We are extremely concerned by recent developments in Armenia,” said Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia, Boriana Aberg (Sweden, EPP/CD) and Kimmo Kiljunen (Finland, SOC).

“In particular, we found the statement issued yesterday by the office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, calling for the resignation of a democratically-elected government, to be unacceptable,” the statement reads.

The co-rapporteurs call upon all political forces and state actors to fully respect democratic principles and the Constitution of Armenia, and to take all necessary steps to immediately de-escalate the current situation. Aberg and Kiljunen also state that Armenia is going through a very difficult phase in its recent history and — more than ever — needs calm, restraint, wisdom and unwavering support for democratic principles by all concerned in order to resolve the political crisis it is facing.

The PACE co-rapporteurs’ concern about the current situation in Armenia is very praiseworthy. The situation is truly troubling and is about to explode, but there are reasons for the emergence of this situation, and overall, they are linked to the actions of the ‘democratically-elected government’ that the PACE co-rapporteurs indicated. However, according to their habit, and more likely, political expediency, the PACE co-rapporteurs notice only one side of the situation and make a reference to democracy.

This is also very praiseworthy since there can be no alternative to democracy in Armenia. However, what is equivocal, to say the least, is the fact that the top officials of the PACE are guided by double standards according to their habit, and more likely, political expediency. For two-and-a-half consecutive years, and even today, they were and are silent as a fish when the ‘democratically-elected government’ they refer to was, under the leadership of its leader Nikol Pashinyan and for narrow personal and political interests, violating democracy by all possible means, starting from the blockage of entry into and exit from courts and ending with usurpation of power of the Constitutional Court and violation of free speech.

In all these cases and even today when the authorities are clearly violating the norms, principles and values of democracy, the PACE and other Europeans are silent, and apparently, the reason why is because the violations of democracy committed by Nikol Pashinyan served and still serve the strengthening of power that served and still serves certain and several geopolitical goals. In reality, the statement by the top command of the Armed Forces and the administration of the General Staff of the Armed Forces is not targeted against democracy, as the PACE co-rapporteurs softly state, but against the authorities, which also serve for the implementation of very specific geopolitical goals for the Europeans. We reiterate the fact that there is no alternative to democracy in Armenia, but through these dual and equivocal methods, those Europeans help Armenian society begin to also suspect them and, through them, also democracy.

Arshavir Ishkhanyan