YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARTSAKHPRESS. The President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, believes that Armenia does not need to quickly ratify the Rome Statute, ARTSAKHPRESS.reports, Simonyan said in an interview with 1in.am.
The President of the National Assembly of Armenia emphasized that they have not held any discussion on the issue of ratifying the Rome Statute in the parliament, but he expressed his subjective opinion that Armenia does not need to rush in this matter.
Simonyan reminded that the government discussed the compatibility of the Rome Statute with the Constitution of Armenia and sent it to the Constitutional Court for a conclusion at the end of 2022. “We have cases of crimes against humanity committed during the Armenian Genocide and Karabakh wars, and it is a necessary tool for Armenia. But we have always behaved as an ally, and we have not taken any special steps against Russia,” said Simonyan, referring to the discussions on Armenia’s possible ratification of the Rome Statute in the context of the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In this context, he described the discussions about Armenia arresting Vladimir Putin as absurd. “But different countries around the world… it’s not so that Armenia itself should take that burden and go and deal with it. It is absurd, we have always behaved like an ally and have been correct in our relations, which allows us today to criticize some of Russia’s actions, which are at least incomprehensible to us. We have always behaved as the right ally and we have been honest with all our partners. There is no need to enter into any political context,” said Simonyan.
He added that the Russian officials, with whom he is in contact, did not even raise this issue, stressing that it is not appropriate to raise such an issue in the case of Armenia, because Armenia has always behaved decently, honestly and in the spirit of allied relations with the CSTO and all other international partners, at the same time not subordinating its interests to any other interests.
Answering the question of there are risks in quickly ratifying the Rome Statute, Alen Sinonyan answered, “It is a negative step towards Russia, the meaning and usefulness of which I do not understand. There are many countries that have ratified it, and Armenia should not be a pioneer in this matter. Yes, we are dissatisfied with the reactions and actions of Russia, and we have many issues that we need to discuss, but at the same time, in my subjective opinion, I do not consider it right to take such a step today.”
