Armenian Parliament Ratifies Rome Statute Despite Russian Threats

The National Assembly of Armenia today approved a bill to ratify the Rome Statute, the foundation of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

This was reported by Public Radio Armenia.

A total of 60 deputies of the National Assembly of Armenia voted in favour of ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, while 22 voted against, and 0 abstained. To pass the bill, 54 votes were required.

Two opposition factions voted against ratification. The 'I Have Honour' faction stated that it would not benefit Armenia, and the 'Armenia' faction called the Statute 'unconstitutional.'

The Rome Statute will come into effect 60 days after adoption, as stated by Armenia's representative for international legal matters, Yeghishe Kirakosyan.

Armenia signed the Rome Statute on July 17, 1998, but did not ratify it because the Constitutional Court in 2004 found the treaty obligations to be in conflict with several provisions of the Constitution in effect at the time.

At the end of 2022, the Armenian government requested a constitutional review of the Rome Statute. In Yerevan, it was noted that ratifying this document would allow initiating a case against Azerbaijan in the ICC (for war crimes - ed).

On March 24, 2023, the Constitutional Court of Armenia recognized Armenia's obligations regarding the Rome Statute of the ICC as consistent with the country's Basic Law.

On March 17 of this year, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Following the ratification of the Rome Statute, Gourgen Melkonyan, a deputy from the ruling 'Civic Contract' faction, stated that if President Putin visits Armenia, he will be arrested.

Previously, Russia has repeatedly stated that Armenia's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) would have negative consequences for bilateral relations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently described Armenia's decision regarding the Rome Statute as 'extremely hostile.' He also noted that the Armenian side had proposed negotiating a bilateral agreement with Russia regarding the Rome Statute.