On October 3, the Armenian parliament voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In the parliamentary session, 60 deputies voted in favor while 22, mainly opposition lawmakers, cast their vote against joining the ICC. The opposition parties "Hayastan" (Armenia) and "I Have the Honor", which boycotted the discussion of the issue, returned to the meeting room and voted against. They noted that the adoption of the document has nothing to do with the interests of Armenia and pursues geopolitical goals.
In the hope of maintaining power, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan relied on deepening relations with the European Union. By agreeing to ratify the Rome Statute, Pashinyan ne***iated a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize by members of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. It must take place before midnight on January 31, 2024, provided that a peace agreement with Azerbaijan is concluded before then. Pashinyan’s hasty signing of the Granada Declaration also proves his dream to become a Nobel.
Ratification of the Rome Statute defines the jurisdiction of the court on the territory of Armenia and does not provide for the legal prosecution of Azerbaijan for war crimes against the people of Artsakh. It is believed that any serious crime committed on the territory of Armenia will fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and for those who intend to commit such a crime, this circumstance will have a deterrent effect.
Moscow considers the ratification of the Rome Statute by Yerevan an absolutely unfriendly step and a tool of pressure on the Kremlin. The Russian Foreign Ministry offers an alternative - to use the mechanisms of the ICC without ratifying the statute. However, Pashinyan’s team, under the pretext of looking for options to bring Baku to justice, continues to follow the intended path. The Kremlin is able to respond by stopping gas supplies and introducing restrictive measures in bilateral trade relations.
