Armenia PM assures France President there will be no obstacle on Istanbul Convention matter

YEREVAN. – The Republic of Armenia (RA) authorities’ interest in ratification of the Istanbul Convention is conditioned not solely by the several-million-euro grant to be provided from the EU, but also by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s promise to European countries that Armenia will ratify this convention by the year’s end, Hraparak (Square) newspaper reported.

“It is said within the [Armenian] government circles that [this] conversation took place with French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan assured [him] that there will be no obstacle on the Istanbul Convention matter. And Macron’s [respective] interest is conditioned on the fact that France has assumed the Council of Europe chairmanship for May-November 2019, [and] which in its priorities [as such] has attached special importance to the promotion of the Istanbul Convention.

“However, despite the RA Prime Minister’s promise, [Armenia’s] ratification of the convention is in doubt. On the one hand, the issue is the [country’s] Constitutional Court, whose composition is not being able to be changed. On the other hand, some MPs from the [parliamentary majority] My Step faction state that they will vote against the convention,” Hraparak wrote.