YEREVAN. – All issues concerning legal processes in the country are in the focus of the Venice Commission. Vladimir Vardanyan, a member of Armenia’s parliamentary majority My Step faction, said this in a briefing with reporters today, referring to the decision to put the constitutional amendments to a referendum.

In response to the observation that the PACE co-rapporteurs urged the constitutional amendments to be submitted to the Venice Commission, he responded: "This is neither the first nor the last time the Venice Commission has made such a statement. These statements are not necessarily to be taken as criticism; this is an approach, and with all due respect to the Venice Commission, it should be noted that it is the body that acts on the basis of applications; if there is an application, the Venice Commission will give an appropriate conclusion.

In many cases, I regret that international organizations have become the object of manipulations. Any international organization that publishes its approaches, positions, cannot impose obligation on this or that state. It is a set of standards that this or that country must meet if it wants to work with that international organization."