Month: February 2019

ArmInfo.Armenian Finance Minister Atom Janjughazyan is surprised at how stubbornly many media continue to be interested in the size of the bonuses he received. He  stated this on February 7 in the National Assembly of Armenia, where  to a closed meeting the “My Step’ parliamentary faction invited him.

Immediately upon arrival, the journalists asked Atom Janjughazyan  about the purpose of the invitation.  “The meeting is closed,” he  said. Earlier, the parliamentary majority invited the head of the  State Revenue Committee Davit Ananyan, as it turned out, for  clarification about the sensational awards. According to the media,  the head of the Ministry of Finance will also discuss the proposed  changes in the Tax Code.

“It surprises me that the media continue to be interested in the size  of the premiums I received,” Janjughazyan told journalists. According  to him, his position over the past 20 years, the imperative procedure  establishes a certain degree of publicity, including in terms of  disclosure of income. Again, without going into details, the head of  the Ministry of Finance said that, compared to 2017, his salary  increased by 10%. “I think that his responsibility in 2018 also  increased by at least 10%,” he said.

When asked by a journalist that the amount of premiums, according to  official information, amounted to more than half a million dollars  and “is this not much for the Ministry of Finance?”, Atom  Janjughazyan first called for dramas in the Republic of Armenia, and  further noted that it was not enough for him to judge this, or many.  “I urge you to be guided by the law. The premiums paid were within  the law, and their amount is not half a million dollars, but much  more – 10% of the entire salary fund (for civil servants) plus 30%  within the framework of the stipulated bonus fund,” the minister  explained. 

ArmInfo.The UN Economic Commission for Europe rejected the complaint of Azerbaijan from 2011 against Armenia. Head of the Office for International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Vahram Kazhoyan, wrote  about this on Facebook.  “After eight years of “battles” as a result  of the negotiations, we recorded a victory today on a very important  issue for Armenia within the framework of the Convention on  Environmental Impact Assessment in a transboundary context.

In 2011, Azerbaijan submitted a complaint against Armenia, which,  however, on all the provisions was refuted by the Ministry of Foreign  Affairs and the Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of  Armenia at several hearings over 8 years. Today, the Economic  Commission for Europe formally made a decision based on the facts we  have presented. The commission found that Armenia fully fulfills its  obligations under the Convention, and the complaint of Azerbaijan is  unfounded, “the diplomat explained. 

Bundestag Disciplines Karin Strenz MP for Hiding Money From Baku

Director, Europe and Central Asia Division

Better late than never. The German parliament has finally disciplined an MP from chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democratic party (CDU) over the MP’s role in a US$2.9 billion influence buying corruption scandal between Azerbaijan and more than a dozen European politicians.

Karin Strenz, a German MP since 2009, had a reputation for defending Azerbaijan despite its terrible human rights record In 2017 it became clear why: She was among a number of members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE)who were found to have received money and gifts from Azerbaijan authorities between 2012 to 2014. During this period, PACE voted down a key resolution on politically motivated imprisonment in Azerbaijan.

Strenz was kicked out of the CDU’s delegation to PACE in early 2018, a few months after the “Azerbaijan Laundromat” scandal broke.

On January 18, the leadership of the Bundestag finally moved on the issue, ruling that Strenz had broken parliamentary rules on declaring external income.

Strenz accepted the ruling but made light of it: “When you commit a parking offence you get a parking ticket” she said.

She could face a fine of up to €60,000 (US$68,000) and several MPs, also from the Social Democrats, the CDU’s coalition allies, have called for her to be stripped of her parliamentary mandate.

“Whitewashing (the Baku) government, manipulating election monitoring, lying and getting rich at the same time is not the same as a parking offence,” Frank Schwabe, an SPD MP tweeted about Strenz.

The Bundestag may have been slow to act against Strenz, but it has been faster than any other national parliament. She is the first MP to face political consequences at home for taking money from Azerbaijan.

This is the most shocking aspect. PACE has banned 16 former members from the parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg, but little else has happened, despite the clear evidence of the politicians’ actions, that undermined the Council of Europe’s standing as Europe’s leading human rights body.

Let’s hope politicians in Spain, Belgium, and other parliaments hit by the scandal will quickly follow the Bundestag’s lead. It’s about standing up for human rights in Azerbaijan, and in Europe as a whole. 

https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/01/29/german-parliament-takes-azerbaijan-corruption-seriously-finally?fbclid=IwAR2cBSN94MDBO_aFNL_BYDzZseo2-FGwcsMX0DGZ3DjPgl-BojrjQI73wu4