YEREVAN. – European People's Party (EPP) President Donald Tusk’s statement was made in the context of several countries, including Georgia and Ukraine. Alen Simonyan, National Assembly (NA) of Armenia Vice President and member of the majority My Step faction in parliament, on Thursday said this speaking to reporters at the NA, reflecting on the fact that Tusk had stated Wednesday that the EPP was concerned about the numerous examples of democratic regression in Armenia and had called on the Armenian authorities to refrain from the pressure on the opposition.
"I link that [statement] to the unwritten rule that the leader of the EPP always supports the representatives of the [political] parties belonging to their group, including Serzh Sargsyan [Armenia’s ex-President and chairman of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia]. I believe Mr. Tusk should be more restrained and not interfere in the affairs of the people of the Republic of Armenia," Simonyan said.
"I believe that Mr. Tusk sees Armenia through the eyes of Serzh Sargsyan, which are eyes cut off from reality, which are eyes waiting for justice, which don’t and can’t have anything to do with the citizens of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Armenia since long time, even before the revolution," he added.
And asked whether the incumbent Armenian authorities were worried about the former authorities’ active cooperation with European organizations, Alen Simonyan responded as follows, in particular: "I do not believe that we can consider the statement by the leader of a union of [political] parties as a criticism by European organizations."
