On 21 November, Armenia’s former President Serzh Sargsyan participated at the congress of the European People's Party (EPP), the right-centre bloc in the EU parliament, in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, reported tert.am. He held a speech at the event, highlighting his concerns over the recent developments in Armenia.
“In the Spring of 2018 Armenia [appeared quite heavily in] international news coverage. For lack of time let me just emphasize that the change in power in my country took place through exclusively peaceful means. My sole purpose was to prevent human casualties and keep the state immune to hazardous shocks.
In reality, those who came to power under the name of the revolution have not introduced, within the past year and a half, any revolutionary transformation or breakthrough in the country’s domestic or foreign agendas,” he said.
Sargsyan outlined his major concerns regarding the political developments in Armenia for the audience.
“There are dangerous developments jeopardizing democracy in the country. Constitutional foundations have been undermined. The principle of the separation and equilibrium of powers has failed. There are numerous facts [illuminate the] violation of… judiciary [independence]. Political persecution is underway. Aggressive actions against opposition media and activists, intolerance and hate speech have become regular occurrences, reaching alarming dimensions,” he said. He also added that his government’s played a role in what had transpired in Armenia but affirmed that issues of security and peace have continually been of vital priority for the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK).
At the end of his speech Sargsyan called for more assistance regarding the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the EU and Armenia in order to improve the life of Armenian citizens.
After he resigned from the post of Armenia’s President, Sargsyan did not make any political statements for a year and a half. He began being politically active again two weeks ago when he met with the US ambassador to Armenia Lynn Tracy at the HHK headquarters in Yerevan (Caucasus Watch reported).
