Washington briefing: Ratings: Armenia remains economically liberal, “partly free” politically

by Emil Sanamyan

Published: Wednesday January 14, 2009

Freedom House released its annual Freedom in the World report on January 12, 2009.

Washington - Two Washington think tanks this week issued annual reports comparing the countries of the world. Armenia's ranking in both reports counts toward its continued eligibility for U.S. Millennium Challenge grants.

The "Economic Freedom Index" jointly prepared by the Wall Street Journal and the Heritage Foundation noted improvements in Armenia in the categories of freedom from corruption, government size, business, trade and fiscal freedom; it reported a deterioration in the monetary and labor categories. Overall, Armenia received the same score it had last year and was ranked 31st in the world, once again placing ahead of its neighborhood and many European Union countries.

Among others in the Index, Georgia was 32nd, Israel 42nd, Latvia 45th, France 64th, Turkey 75th, Azerbaijan 91st, Russia 146th, and Iran 168th.  Once again, the list was topped by Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States.

The "Freedom in the World" ranking put together by Freedom House, released on January 12, reported a global "retreat" for freedom for a third consecutive year.

In Armenia the report noted a decline in political freedoms "because of obstacles placed in the way of the political opposition during the presidential election, as well as the use of violence to disperse opposition protesters and the incarceration of over 100 people after the voting."

Setbacks were also recorded in Georgia, Moldova, and Kyrgyzstan, which, like Armenia, were ranked "partly free." Ukraine was the only former Soviet republic described as free, while all others, including Russia and Azerbaijan, were rated "not free."

In addition, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic retained its "partly free" rating, while Abkhazia and South Ossetia - now bound by security treaties to Russia - were both ranked as "not free."