Instead of criticizing the Europeans, we must clean house

A reprimanded Armenia will become further dependent upon Russia

by Tatul Hakobyan

Published: Thursday January 08, 2009

Demonstrators outside the trial of seven prominent figures charged with attempting to usurp state power in violation of the constitution and organizing mass unrest in which deaths occurred. Dec. 23, 2008, Yerevan. Photolure

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Yerevan - I remember January 25, 2001, very clearly. On that day, in Strasbourg, the Council of Europe admitted Armenia and Azerbaijan as members. Together with some other Armenian journalists, I was in France reporting on that truly important foreign policy achievement.

A decade after independence, Armenia was becoming part of an organization that defends human rights and democracy. Its membership in the Council of Europe spoke of its success in moving toward democracy and improving its economy, being loyal to European values, and having a foreign policy oriented toward Europe.

The fact that Azerbaijan, which has authoritarian inclinations, was becoming a member at the same time in no way lessened the value of Armenia's membership. It was evident for all, including Azerbaijan, that giving both Azerbaijan and Armenia membership simultaneously was a deliberate action, ensuring parity between the two countries involved in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. But clearly, Armenia was truly taking serious steps toward making the country more democratic. We thought, as did the Europeans, that the process was irreversible.

An achievement at risk

The early years of President Robert Kocharian's administration truly inspired us to believe that Armenia would have freedom of media, pluralism, democracy, the rule of law, a just system of government, and an absence of monopolies in the economy. Over the years we have seen setbacks and reasons for concern, but today the whole achievement is at risk. We are now waiting to see whether Armenia will be found to have political prisoners and deprived of its voting rights during the upcoming January 29 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

Foreign policy is a continuation of domestic policy. Internal issues in a country directly reflect on the country's international reputation. We must not be surprised that the Europeans are preparing to take extreme measures. The surprising thing is the stance of the ruling political forces in Armenia. A chorus of voices from the governing party is accusing the Europeans of being disingenuous, of using civil rights as an excuse to pressure Armenia into foreign-policy concessions. Not only is this inappropriate, but it is also dangerous for Armenia.

When on December 17 the PACE Monitoring Committee adopted a draft resolution that would declare that Armenia was holding political prisoners and would deprive the Armenian delegation of its right to vote, the Armenian authorities were visibly surprised. They were the ones who should have been the least surprised, as they were the ones who were conducting meetings with the Europeans.

If the Europeans' purpose was to deprive Armenia of its voting rights, they could have done so in April. Ten deaths would have been more than enough reason to invoke sanctions. But PACE gave Armenia time, with two separate resolutions, in April and June, and now a final warning on December 17.

Of course, the authorities can justify holding prisoners by saying that 10 people were killed in the March 1 riots and justice must be served. Like many people in Armenia, the Europeans do not believe that the opposition alone was responsible for the riots. Ten months have passed since those tragic events, but only opposition members have been tried and sentenced.

To date not a single one of them has been charged for using weapons, burning a car, or looting a shop on March 1, the actual day when the riots took place. Those responsible for the 10 deaths have not yet been revealed. Nor has a single law-enforcement official or soldier been brought to account. The authorities say they prevented a coup d'état led by Levon Ter-Petrossian, the former president, but he has not even been questioned.

Europe is not our enemy

We must understand a simple fact: the Council of Europe is not Armenia's enemy, wanting to punish Armenia without reason. It is a structure Armenia joined of its own will. Armenia chose to bring much of its national legislation in line with European legislation. Instead of acting hurt, the Armenian authorities must take steps to try to get out of the situation with honor. Of course, they can choose to leave the Council of Europe, but in that case Armenia would be left alone with its unresolved issues.

Unfortunately, not everyone understands that a finding that Armenia is holding political prisoners and the suspension of the Armenian delegation's voting rights will have unfavorable political, economic, and diplomatic consequences. It is not universally understood that in such a case, the voices of Turkey and Azerbaijan will be heard even more loudly, as will those of the representatives of countries that do not have goodwill toward Armenia and Artsakh.

Armenia's international reputation will suffer great damage if the resolution is adopted. Armenia, quite simply, will be viewed as a state where basic human rights, the rule of law, and free and just elections are not respected.

Losing balance

Since 1988, Armenia has been carrying out - or at least stating that it is carrying out - a foreign policy of complementarity, maintaining balanced relations with three centers of power - Moscow, Brussels, and Washington. If PACE sanctions Armenia, it will complicate Armenia's relations with the West - Euruopean structures, European countries, and the United States. Armenia will be inclined to lean more toward Moscow. In this way, Armenia's dependence on Russia politically, militarily, and economically will deepen.

Since independence, Armenia has maintained good relations with Russia and has tried and succeeded most of the time to have good relations also with Europe and America. But as Armenia's dependence on Moscow grows, it will become alienated from the West. Armenia's dependence upon Russia will give Moscow the opportunity to deal with Armenia as it pleases and not as Armenia would want.