Protest held outside EU Delegation office in Yerevan
A group of human rights activists, opposition figures and other citizens on Thursday gathered in front of the EU Delegation office in Armenia to denounce the “unacceptable" silence of the EU institutions amid the “disgraceful” processes in the country.
“The silence of Western and especially European structures concerning the disgraceful processes in our country is unacceptable," human rights activist Ruben Melikyan, co-founder of the Path of Law NGO, told reporters during the protest.
In Melikyan’s words, their silence is one of the reasons of repressions in all spheres, including against freedom of speech, judicial system, media freedom, etc.
"In all this, a very large share of responsibility lies with the people who represent the European Union in Armenia," he stressed, adding the slogan of the assembly is, "U Are Not EU”.
"We don't think that the people who represent the European Union in Armenia actually represent European values, they are promoting the interests of the authorities," the human rights activist noted.
"It is quite possible that the EU diplomats remain silent because they have certain political expectations from the authorities," Melikyan said, adding at the same time the silence is mostly conditioned by the fact that no proper information has been conveyed to the capitals of the European countries.
"The EU Delegation, including the ambassador, is responsible for democratic regression in Armenia. Many of them also talk about the progress of democracy. Not only do they keep silent about the ongoing disgraceful process, but also they record progress in the country’s democratic development. This is absolutely unacceptable," Melikyan said.