Despite warning signals from Moscow, the Armenian parliament ratified the Rome Statute of the ISS.
Armenian lawmakers have voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), despite strong opposition from Russia. Thus, the country came under the jurisdiction of the Hague Tribunal, which in March issued arrest warrants for the criminals – Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Commissioner for Children’s Affairs Maria Lvova-Belova for their role in the deportation of young Ukrainians.
Historic vote
Today, October 3, 60 Armenian deputies, mainly from the ruling Civil Treaty party, voted for the ratification of the agreement, 22 lawmakers voted against.
Armenia’s two opposition parties Hayastan (linked to former President Robert Kocharyan) and Patov Unem (linked to former President Serzh Sargsyan) criticized the decision to approve the document, accusing the country’s leadership of deliberately endangering the near Armenia’s relations with Moscow.
Let’s remember that now the law must be approved by President Vahagn Khachaturian.
Russian resistance
A week after the ISS issued an arrest warrant for Putin on March 17, the Constitutional Court of Armenia ruled that the Rome Statute does not conflict with the Constitution. Note that the country signed the law in 1998, but has not ratified it.
Last week, the Kremlin warned that Yerevan’s move would deepen differences with Moscow, adding that such a decision would be considered “extremely hostile” to Russia.
After that, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, who represents Yerevan in international judicial bodies, objected that Armenia would extradite Putin to the Hague Tribunal if he visited the country.
Kirakosyan argued that the Russian president and other heads of state enjoy immunity from arrest and that the Rome Statute allows countries to sign bilateral agreements to ignore arrest warrants against the ISS. Yerevan proposed to sign such an agreement with Moscow in April, he said, adding that the Russian side has still not responded to the proposal.
Despite this, independent legal scholars believe that the ratification of the Rome Statute means that Putin can be arrested in Armenia on an ISS arrest warrant if he visits the country.
Reaction to Yerevan’s decision
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Armenia on its decision. Now, according to him, Yerevan should execute the arrest warrant for Putin.
“The world is getting smaller for the autocrat in the Kremlin. I welcome the ratification of the Rome Statute by the Armenian Parliament. Armenia joins 123 states committed to the rule of law,” he wrote von der Leyen in X (Twitter).
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also welcomed in her statement the approval of the ratification of the document by Armenian legislators.
“Fighting impunity for crimes is a condition for peace and stability,” Colonna reported.
In turn, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Yerevan’s decision, said that Russia considers the people of Armenia to be brothers, but there are questions for the leadership of this country. In particular, he called the situation “an incorrect step from the point of view of bilateral relations.”
“We doubted and doubted from the beginning that from the point of view of bilateral relations, Armenia’s accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is correct. We still believe that it is a no right decision,” Peskov said.
He added that the Russian side will not like that Russian President Putin will one day “have to refuse visits to Armenia.”
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.