Armenia Accepts Russian Veto On Foreign Military Cooperation

Armenia has ratified a protocol that would allow Russia a veto over any foreign military installations in its country, but not without some grumbling. An agreement reached last year by the Collective Security Treaty Organization allows any CSTO member to have a say in whether another member can host a foreign military base. This week, Armenia's parliament ratified that agreement, but with some lawmakers complaining that it infringed on the country's sovereignty, and the parliament's second-largest bloc abstaining from the vote, reports ArmeniaNow:

On October 4, the Parliament ratified the Protocol on the Location of Military Installations in Collective Security Treaty Organization (OSCE) Member Countries that was signed still in December 2011 and under which Armenia is not entitled to host military forces or other infrastructure of other states without the permission of the CSTO...

Opposition Heritage faction MP Alexander Arzumanyan, who represents the Free Democrats party and served as Armenia’s minister of foreign affairs in the 1990s, said during the debate in the National Assembly that the Protocol limits Armenia’s sovereign rights and humiliates the nation’s dignity. In the end, only five lawmakers in the 131-member body, including Arzumanyan, voted against the ratification. The second largest faction in the Armenian parliament, Prosperous Armenia [which holds 37 seats], opted out of the vote.

In addition to Armenia, the CSTO includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, but is dominated by Russia. It doesn't seem likely that Armenia would host any other country's military, but it is nevertheless a pretty extraordinary abdication of sovereignty. Armenia, though, a relatively democratic country in the CSTO (not a high standard in this club) is in a somewhat unique position to have some public debate on it, even if the protocol was eventually passed.