Armenian Parliament ratifies country’s membership in International Criminal Court

It is a project that arouses the wrath of Moscow. The Armenian Parliament ratified, on Tuesday October 3, accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by 60 votes to 22. Russia, Yerevan’s traditional ally with whom relations have become considerably strained, sees this accession as a very bad news, the Court having issued an arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin in the spring.

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Join the ICC “would create additional guarantees for Armenia” facing Azerbaijan, pleaded at the opening of the debates Eghiche Kirakosian, an Armenian official responsible for international justice affairs. Baku has just won a lightning military victory, putting an end to the separatism of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia, which accuses Russia of having abandoned it in the face of a much richer and better armed adversary, is now worried about the security of its territory.

Moscow criticizes “erroneous decision”

Ratify the Rome Statute, founding treaty of the Court, guarantees that a potential invasion of Armenia “will fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC”which will have a “deterrent effect”, declared Eghiche Kirakosian in front of the Armenian elected officials. Armenia signed the Rome Statute in 1999, but did not ratify it, citing contradictions with its Constitution – an obstacle that has since been removed.

For its part, the Kremlin quickly reacted to the vote of the Armenian Parliament. “We doubt whether Armenia’s accession to the Rome Statute is correct from the point of view of bilateral relations. We continue to believe that this is a wrong decision”Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.