“I do not think that the voting will change a lot”, said the expert of the Center for Political and International Studies Ruben Mehrabyan, in the conversation with Aravot.am, referring to the voting at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) winter session on January 28 for the right of the Russian delegation to vote. He said that given Russia’s political moves and regardless of how Armenia voted, Russia’s fate in the PACE was predetermined. “Armenia just made a move to stay in the game, while Azerbaijan’s case is different. It turned so that Azerbaijan already has a serious conflict with the West pertaining to its domestic policy, and tried to use it unsuccessfully to once again rebuke the West and make a move in contrast to the West, but it did not lead to anything.”
Ruben Mehrabyan said that the vote was a step forward. “Anyway, at least it did not repeat the scandal in the UN, when Armenia stood next to Zimbabwe and other this class of states, when it voted against the resolution condemning Russia. Now, Armenian made at least a small and insignificant move to leave a room for respect.” Note that the members of the Armenian delegation to PACE Naira Karapetyan, Hermine Naghdalyan and Mher Shahgeldyan took part in the voting. They voted “abstain”. While the member of the Azerbaijani delegation voting “no” to the report.
Ami CHICHAKYAN
