ARMENIAN SPOKESMAN DISMISSES EUROPEAN OFFICIAL’S CRITICISM

Mediamax News Agency
Dec 24 2007
Armenia

Yerevan, 24 December: Armenian president’s press secretary Viktor
Soghomonyan said today that he is bewildered with the statement by
Peter Semneby, the European Union’s special representative in the
South Caucasus, that "the responsibility of setting the right tone
for the mass media lies with the Armenian authorities, while avoiding
a direct interference."

Semneby had made the statement in an interview with Mediamax news
agency when commenting on his recent visit to Armenia.

Commenting on the statement, Viktor Soghomonyan told Mediamax:
"Mr. Semneby’s statement puzzled [me]. I don’t see that authorities
are responsible for the tone of the media in European countries. It is
unclear what tools can be used to implement those responsibilities. I
don’t know about Mr. Semneby’s motives, as well as the criteria and
the sources of the information, but it is obvious they are wide of
the mark. If Mr. Semneby bothered himself to study the initial cause
of the pre-election polemics tension in Armenia, he would certainly
see that the authorities are the most restrained participant in the
process. Incidentally, we follow elections in Europe, and the media
tone is not quite elegant there."