The former Human Rights Defender of Artsakh, human rights activist Ruben Melikyan said he expected the EU ambassador to Armenia to publicly and harshly criticize the actions of the political authorities of Armenia against freedom of speech, against the judiciary, against human rights. 

He noted that the US-based global advocacy organization Freedom House was the first to scathingly criticize the current government's 'shameful criminalization of grave insults.' 

"Despite unacceptable silence on many issues, this American structure has proved that it still has certain red lines, and that the violation of these red lines is unacceptable," he added.

"It is American, and not European structures that will begin this criticism. Why? Because the Americans, on the whole, still have faith in their fundamental values, while in European structures, it seems, hypocrisy has finally defeated adherence to principles. The grounds for such an opinion are more than obvious," he added.

"The “face” of collective Europe in Armenia is the EU Ambassador, and I expect him to publicly and harshly criticize the actions of the political authorities of Armenia against freedom of speech, against the judiciary, against human rights.

Why do I expect this from the EU ambassador, and not from the Russian Federation, China, Iran or ambassadors of other countries? For a very simple reason. Until 2018, it was the EU Embassy in Armenia that publicly made critical statements on a variety of issues from the standpoint of democratic values. So, let them be kind to adhere to the same principles now. I promise to be consistent with my expectations and not be content with just Facebook posts,” Melikyan added.