Domestic political developments 'projected on our foreign policy affairs' - Karen Bekaryan

In the latest series of Between the Lines, a broadcast aired by ArmNews TV Channel, political analyst Karen Bekaryan addressed the domestic political developments in Armenia, describing them as "disgraceful processes" and expressing concern that the kind of situation may be reflected also on the country's foreign policy agenda.
 
He called a special attention to the authorities' omissions in the field of human rights and democracy, expressing regret that the relations with European allies are now in the domain of interests rather than values.
 
"Armenia, which for many years built relations in the status of a partner governed by specific values, has now started losing, with a colossal rapidity, that image, as well as the fruits stemming therefrom - both as dividends and as an image," he said.

The analyst cited, particularly, the developments surrounding the Constitutional Court, noting that the increasing unlawfulness eventually caused the current  authorities to urge the European partners to avoid adequately reacting to the situation.

"Here is my simplest question: what could be the expected [benefits] of a trade deal which loses its underlying values given that the processes dealing with the Constitutional Court - and the courts in general - cannot possibly fall under the domain of values?" Bekaryan said, noting that the prime minister's earlier meetings with high-ranking EU officials "did not pursue any national and state agenda".

He also questioned the National Assembly's move to rapidly ratify the Lanzarote Convention (the Council of Europe Convention on Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse), considering it the "cost of reward" for services (along with the Istanbul Convention proposing actions to prevent violence against women and domestic violence).

Bekaryan said he expects a similar scenario also in the processes around the Prosperous Armenia party (the second largest political force in Armenia's parliament) and its leader. "If the European community fails to react to all this - and you now see  their dead silence - what then will they demand in return or have already demanded?"  he asked.

The analyst said he has real fears that ongoing developments will eventually turn Armenia into a kind of puppet in the hands of European allies, preventing the country from pushing effectively ahead with its positions in the domain of priorities and interests.

Belaryan said he partially sees the answer to that in the anti-Armenian wording of the European Parliament's recent statement on a highway project between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

"If its prevention was impossible indeed, that's due to not only a lack of professionalism but also the fact that the partnership ties - insignificant though they may have been - are being used in the ambiguous sense characteristic of Nikol Pashinyan - in an effort to  push through, and cover up, these steps running counter to democracy and human rights, leaving no time and resources for a real agenda," he added.