Report: Armenia's political opening had a positive effect on Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - The political opening in Armenia had a positive effect on Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) during 2019, Freedom House says in a summary of its Freedom in the World 2020 report.

The report notes positive signs in Armenia against the backdrop of an overall grim picture elsewhere in the world.

According to the NGO, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, in particular, was among the leaders who "took initial steps to uproot the kleptocratic forces that long stymied their countries' democratic aspirations."

Pashinyan came to power following a peaceful campaign in April-May 2019, when tens of thousands of Armenians took to the streets across the country to demand the resignation of former authorities.

The political opening in Armenia that began with Pashinyan’s long-shot rise to the premiership in 2018 had a positive effect on Nagorno-Karabakh during 2019, says the organization.

"There was an increase in competition and civil society activity surrounding local elections in September, and the stage was set for further changes in the 2020 elections for Nagorno-Karabakh’s president and parliament," says the report.

Unfortunately, the Eurasia region’s other breakaway territories, which are all occupied by Russian troops, remained locked in a pattern of stagnation or decline in political rights and civil liberties.