YEREVAN. – Hraparak newspaper of Armenia writes: The sharp escalation of the authorities against the former director of the NSS [National Security Service], Artur Vanetsyan, has grounds. According to our information, many political forces have been sending direct and indirect messages to Vanetsyan lately, suggesting that he enter the political arena, promising to support him in every way to form a political pole in the country and fill the empty field of the opposition.

All of them, realistically estimating their chances, realize that the most serious candidate capable of uniting the opposition is the former NSS director.

The prospect of this consolidation has terrified the authorities, who have clear information on these discussions, and it is not excluded that Vanetsyan will also be the target of criminal persecution [by the authorities] in the near future.