This was the main point that the U.S. Charge d’Affaires Joseph Pennington tired to express during yesterday’s press conference.
The American diplomat noted that the US concerns are related to the conduct of the election, the voting day and the post-election developments, the count of votes, as well as the tragedy of March 1 and 2, Joseph Pennington said, underlining also the state of emergency and the circumstances of arrests of people. Pennington said that the United States has concerns about these, as well as the current tendencies. He said that Washington has voiced concern in the letter of the head of the MCC Ambassador John Danilovich to the president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan. In addition, Pennington said the tendency which was marked as regress in performance of benchmarks of eligibility for the MCC program in John Danilovich’s letter were acquiring bad expressions before the events. The U.S. charge said there were concerns about effective administration, anti-corruption efforts, freedom of press and certainly democratic processes. The past two months have made the concerns of the United States even deeper, the U.S. diplomat said. In addition, Joseph Pennington said the purpose of the letter of John Danilovich was not punishment or a threat; it addressed the Armenian government to encourage it to move along the path for democracy. According to Joseph Pennington, the letter of John Danilovich mentioned only the possibility of suspension of the MCC program. However, no decision has been passed yet. According to the U.S. diplomat, the United States is not likely to suspend the MCC program because it is targeted at people who need it. However, if there is no return to the path for democracy, the program will be suspended, the U.S. diplomat says, although he repeats that it is not the purpose of the United States. According to Pennington, it would be fair to give the president elect of Armenia and his administration a chance to correct the situation. The U.S. charge d’affaires says they heard Serzh Sargsyan assert that the Armenian government will move along the democratic path and will make serious moves in that direction. Joseph Pennington says the assertions are reassuring, as to how realistic they are, it will become clear after the inauguration of the new president because he is still a prime minister and has not taken up the post of president. Joseph Pennington has also mentioned the period which the new president will have to bring into being his willingness for democratic moves which he asserted in his statements. According to the U.S. diplomat, in the United States, for instance, the tendencies of the policy of the new president are noticed within the first 100 days of his tenure. Although 100 days is not a magic period, says the diplomat, it is enough to observe the tendencies. What they will be observing are the tendencies outlining in the initial phases of the new administration of Armenia, Pennington said. He stated that the United States is ready to work with the Armenian government to have the country move towards democracy, but the ways of settling the current political situation is something that the Armenian government should decide, because the United States cannot instruct what steps should be made. By the way, with regard to the role of the United States in the home political developments in Armenia, and efforts to prepare a color revolution, the U.S. diplomat said the problems which have led to this situation have occurred in Armenia and will not be solved through the United States but through democratic processes in Armenia. The U.S. diplomat says they voiced concern about it both publicly and in private talks. With regard to those arrested for the events of March 1 and 2, the U.S. diplomat said there were people who behaved violently, stole, and the government must punish them. However, according to Pennington, people cannot be arrested for their political views, for participating in a march or for expressing their opinion. According to the U.S. Charge d’Affaires, these two groups must be distinguished, and people cannot be arrested for their political views. As to arrests for walking in the street, he says although the detained people are released, Joseph Pennington says he cannot notice a constructive thing in those actions. He is surprised what it will lead to except for making citizens indignant. As to Serzh Sargsyan’s assertions to take the democratic way in which context the issue of arrests and detentions was voiced, Joseph Pennington says those assertions were made but Sargsyan is still a prime minister, and as soon as he becomes president, they will see if his assertions are genuine. With regard to the same news conference of Robert Kocharyan the reporters reminded the U.S. diplomat that Robert Kocharyan said maybe it is good that George Bush did not congratulate Serge Sargsyan. The reporters reminded this to ask the diplomat if he can explain the practice of congratulation of foreign presidents in the U.S. administration and whether it is bad that George Bush has not congratulated Serge Sargsyan. In answer to this question the U.S. charge d’affaires said after the Armenian presidential election the U.S. State Department congratulated the people of Armenia on a competitive election. He said he cannot suppose what Washington may do or may not do but he concluded that the U.S. government is ready to work with the new government of Armenia towards democratic tendencies. The US Embassy has received the invitation to participate in the inauguration of the Armenian president but the US government hasn’t yet decided who is going to take part. The Armenian media reported recently referring to the California Courier that the United States has requested agreement and awaits for approval of nomination of the U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan for ambassador to Armenia. According to the U.S. Charge d’Affaires Joseph Pennington, the White House announces about nominating ambassador and for the time being there is no information from the White House, Joseph Pennington says. The journalists also asked Pennington about the resolution on NKR adopted by the UN. In particular the question related to the attitude of the US to that resolution and the fact that Azerbaijan is trying to move this issue from the OSCE to the UN. The diplomat mentioned that he doesn’t avoid answering the question, however the US co-chairman of the Minsk Group Mathew Bryza will speak in more detail about that matter. Bryza is expected to visit Armenia soon. “The Minsk Group is the only format, which can cause the resolution of the conflict,” he said. Let us remember that on March 25 Bryza has also spoken of the MCC agreement and mentioned that the necessity of freezing the compact may be cancelled on part of the US government. He mentioned that the final decision of the US depends on the level of recovering the democracy in Armenia. 3-4 days after Bryza’s statement the RA policemen detained dozens of RA citizens from the Northern Avenue. It means that all depends how the US will assess these actions as recovery of democracy or degradation.