U.S. Ambassador Kristina Kvien met with several lawmakers representing Armenia’s two main opposition groups on Wednesday to discuss their concerns about the Armenian government’s human rights record and territorial concessions to Azerbaijan, reports the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan.
The discussions covered “a broad range of issues important to the bilateral relationship, including U.S. support for Armenia’s democratic development, human rights, and the peace process.”
Ambassador Kvien “underscored U.S. support for Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and welcomed Armenia and Azerbaijan’s recent agreement to use the Alma Ata Declaration as a basis for border delimitation.”
The parliamentary groups of the Hayastan and Pativ Unem alliances urgently requested meetings with Kvien and other Yerevan-based Western ambassadors on May 2, just hours after Armenian police detained dozens of protesters in the northern Tavush region. These protesters were trying to prevent the handover of adjacent border areas to Azerbaijan.
In a joint statement, they highlighted the crackdown as an example of the Armenian government’s “attempts to limit freedom of speech and the right to peaceful assembly, control of the judicial system, and widespread recourse to arrests.” They said they want to discuss with Western diplomats their countries’ “tolerance” of these practices.
The Armenian authorities have strongly denied using excessive force against the Tavush protesters, who are vehemently opposed to the land handover stemming from an Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation deal. Both the United States and the European Union have welcomed the deal.
On April 28, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Pashinyan’s “vision for a prosperous, democratic, and independent future for Armenia.” Meanwhile, Armenian opposition leaders have accused the West of turning a blind eye to undemocratic practices in Armenia for geopolitical reasons.
