The Armenian authorities are already trying to circumvent the conclusion of the Venice Commission, and it seems as though nobody is helping them with this. This is what head of Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO, first Ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to her, the authorities are trying to convince the public that they were referring to what was stated in the well-known protocol. “It is a shame for Armenia to conduct vetting because this attests to the fact that we are in a situation that can’t be changed through simple reforms. This is a bad sign. The authorities aren’t sincere to the people, particularly the community of experts and analysts,” she said.

The human rights activists noted that not all European institutions are viewing the situation impartially and including elements that are in their interests. “In addition to all this, we see Europe’s approaches to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that are not in Armenia’s favor. This issue is closely linked to the problems with oil and gas and the relations with Russia,” Alaverdyan said, adding that Armenia needs to be consistent with preservation of undisputed values, particularly maintenance of an independent judiciary.