ANDREY SOROKIN: FUNDAMENTAL POSITIVE CHANGES HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN ARMENIA OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, BUT THERE IS STILL MUCH TO BE DONE
ArmInfo’s interview with Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, the Head of the
OSCE Office in Yerevan
by Marianna Lazarian
Tuesday, July 9, 16:32
Mr. Ambassador, what is your assessment of the OSCE’s activities in
Armenia? What projects have been recently implemented? How effective
are the ongoing reforms?
Our Office has a rather wide mandate. We work in all three dimensions
of the OSCE: politico-military, economic and environmental and human.
In these three dimensions we are implementing a range of projects to
assist the country in various fields. I’ll try to detail the most
essential ones.
Since 2012 our Office with the financial support of the European
Union has been implementing a large-scale project on strengthening
electoral processes in Armenia. The project budget is 1.7 mln Euro and
it included a large number of activities. Thus, the Office assisted
the Central Electoral Commission in re-equipping its electronic
network for the transfer of voting results from polling stations, as
well as organized training for election commission members (nearly
14,000 people) and journalists. The project helped to increase the
civic oversight over election processes. NGOs presented their
assessment of the election procedures and the results of the media
monitoring. In general, I think the project has fulfilled its main
objective – assisting Armenia in improving the election
administration, which was noted by both international and local
observers.
In the politico-military dimension, we closely co-operate with the
Armenian Police in improving police activities. The reform includes
several components: building trust and co-operation between the Police
and the population, introduction of the so-called ‘community-based
policing’. This new Community Policing Model was introduced throughout
Yerevan last year. Another important aspect of the police reform is
the reform in the field of police education and here I can see
positive developments. Thus, with our support a new three-tier
Educational Complex was established, which includes the Police
Academy, the Police College and the Police Training Centre. A new
examination system has been developed for the applicants to the police
educational establishments, new composition of independent admission
commissions was introduced. We will see the results of these changes
only in few years when we will have the first graduates, but currently
we are “laying the foundation”.
I’d like to mention also our project on economic reform that we
launched in partnership with the Government of Armenia last year. The
aim of the project, also known as a “Regulatory Guillotine”, is a
significant reduction and simplification of regulatory burden for
businesses. How does it work in practice? A special government
institution has been formed and operating from last year to examine
the regulatory framework of specific sectors, gives a detailed account
of the corresponding business processes, makes comparative analysis of
the current procedures with the best international practice and
prepares a package of proposals for further approval by the
Government. Armenia is currently highly regulated with nearly 26,000
regulatory acts. This figure will be reduced at least by 30% as a
result of this project. It is hard to speak about the project’s
efficiency at this stage, however, the experience of other countries
shows positive changes in business environment and investments
climate. I am sure the result will be positive in Armenia as well.
In conclusion, I’d like to add that it is hard to list all the
projects implemented by our Office (there were nearly 25 projects in
2012 and in the current year). Their aim is to assist Armenia in
implementing legislative, legal and judicial reforms in various
fields, such as gender equality, media freedom, migration, respect for
human rights, and active involvement of civil society in all spheres
of public life.
OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Leonid
Kozhara, is expected to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan shortly. What
kind of agreements are to be reached in Baku and Yerevan in the course
of the upcoming visit? Does the visit pursue a goal of reanimating the
actually frozen negotiations?
Indeed, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Foreign Minister of the
Ukraine, Leonid Kozhara, will visit Armenia shortly (expected to take
place in the first half of July). As you may know, the OSCE
Chairmanship rotates every year.The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office usually
visits all OSCE field missions to, first of all, better familiarize
himself with the activities of the missions and the situation in the
country, and, secondly, to meet with the leadership of the country to
discuss current problems and raise issues that fall within the scope
of the OSCE activities.
The OSCE Office in Yerevan actively cooperates with the Armenian
Ombudsman Office and provides significant financial assistance to the
latter. However, the Human Rights Defender’s Office often complains
about insufficient financing. Do you consider any possibility of
additional financing for the Human Rights Defender’s Office and what
it could be spent on?
As you know, the OSCE Office has been implementing a project aimed at
promoting protection of human rights in Armenia during elections
through strengthening the capacity of the Human Rights Defender’s
Office. Under this EU-funded project, the Human Rights Defender’s
Office received assistance in monitoring and ensuring rapid reaction
of alleged electoral violations throughout the country. Six regional
offices of the institution in Yeghegnadzor, Kapan, Gavar, Idjevan,
Gyumri and Vanadzor have been successfully operating for already 1.5
year. There is a hotline that receives and registers complaints on
alleged violations of human rights and provides rapid legal
assistance. In addition, during elections Rapid Reaction Groups were
set up in Yerevan and the regions in order to ensure direct and prompt
response on the received calls about violations. Regional offices and
Rapid Reaction Groups operated successfully at all levels during the
last parliamentary and presidential elections and the results of their
work are promising. I really hope that the positive result of our
activities will prompt further financial support for the Ombudsman’s
regional offices from the state budget. This will allow sustainable
development of the Human Rights Defender’s Institution and its
regional offices. We, in turn, will further support and provide expert
assistance to the Ombudsman’s Office of Armenia within the framework
of our projects, including support in implementation of the national
preventive mechanism.
In 2012-2013 nation-wide elections were held in Armenia that were
observed by the OSCE. What is your assessment of the democratization
and reform process in Armenia?
First of all, I would like to remind that international election
observation is a prerogative of the OSCE/ODIHR and our Office is not
directly engaged in election observation. I think ODIHR’s assessment
is known to everyone: a significant progress was observed in
administration of election processes and respect for fundamental
rights in the election context. Comparatively, the latest elections
were assessed more positively than the previous ones. In some key
issues, however, observers stressed the need for further reforms,
outlining misuse of administrative resources, cases of pressure on
voters and undue interventions by unauthorized persons.
Not being directly engaged in election observation, our Office however
follows the democratic developments and trends in the country within
its long-term activities on strengthening the electoral systems, as
elections are one of the indicators of democratic development. One can
state for sure, and it is also evident from the evolving profile of
activities of international structures, that fundamental positive
changes have taken place in Armenia over the last several years. The
public has had a big role in fostering this change, as it is better
informed, more active, and follows the activities of various state
structures more consistently and persistently. Undoubtedly, this is
also a result of increased openness of public institutions. At the
same time one should admit that these positive changes are seen only
within the context of comparative assessment. More should be done to
achieve the required standards in many fields, such as judicial,
law-enforcement, penitentiary system, fight against corruption at all
levels, and the freedom of mass media.
From: A. Papazian