Jacqueline Hale, senior policy analyst for OSI-Brussels, reports on the prospects for reform in Armenia following a recent roundtable of Armenian civil society representatives, European officials, diplomats, and NGOs.
Armenia and the EU have come closer in recent years through the European Neighbourhood Policy, which saw the government of Armenia agree to a five-year Action Plan for a number of reforms.
Now, with a prospective deepening of relations, representatives of civil society from Armenia argue that any decision to open negotiations on an Association Agreement between the EU and Armenia should be based on concrete progress made by the country in implementing its commitments.
Armenian civil society representatives at a roundtable discussion attended by European officials, diplomats and NGOs at OSI-Brussels referred to Armenia's Action Plan commitments to argue that overall political trends in 2009 remain at best static; at worst there has been backsliding.
While much international attention has been drawn to the prospect of ratifying the Turkish-Armenian protocols, domestic civil society remains concerned about restrictions on human rights and fundamental freedoms since the tragic events of March 1, 2008, which saw excessive use of force to disperse protesters following the disputed presidential elections.
A monitoring report presented by the Partnership for Open Society (part of the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation-Armenia) tackles EU Action Plan commitments in the following fields:
- Reform of the judiciary, corruption, human rights and fundamental freedoms, media freedom and pluralism
- Economic development, reform of tax and customs administration
- Environmental policy, sustainable development and public procurement
Speakers detailed the issue of political prisoners; instances of intimidation and vote-rigging during the 2009 municipal elections; Armenia's continued failure to comply with PACE recommendations on the media law and the Council of Europe ruling on licensing for A1+; and persecution of activists, notably Maryam Sukhodyan, an environmental activist who blew the whistle on child abuse in institutions in Armenia and now finds herself under investigation by the courts.
Speakers argued that political reforms on the Armenian side will lag if conditionality is not exercised by the international community, notably the EU. They called on the EU to take a more proactive role in exercising its leverage to press the Armenian government to turn its commitments into action.