Several hours after the adoption of the resolution on the Armenian democratic institutes by the PACE the Helsinki commission of the Congress held a session concerning the post-election situation in Armenia and the political crisis resulted therein. During this session deputy state secretary Matthew Bryza came up with a speech. “We are continuing strictly criticizing the steps of the Armenian authorities to limit liberties, and as before now we are petitioning to set all those people free who have been arrested based on political reasons,” said Bryza and emphasized that in order to go out of this situation there are several important issues, including the fact “how strong the U.S. is criticizing the clampdown of March 1 despite the fact who did it.” Bryza warned that if Armenia does not do the requirements of Washington definitely it will terminate the cooperation with Armenia within the framework of the Millennium Challenges corporation program. To note, the PACE resolution also mentions that if Armenia fails to meet its requirements the PACE may discuss the issue of Armenia’s credibility in its sitting in June.
