BRYZA: SUSPENSION OF U.S. ASSISTANCE MAY BE RECONSIDERED
PanARMENIAN.Net
25.03.2008 17:13 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ What I thought the Secretary Rice said is that we
are looking into suspending or beginning to implement limitations to
some of our programs, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for
European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza said when commenting on
Dr Rice’s March 12 statement.
"One thing that you saw was that letter that came from Millennium
Challenge Corporation CEO, Ambassador John Danilovich that talked about
the need to reconsider the MCC program in the current circumstances. We
were also in the process of possibly limiting certain other flows
of assistance money if the state of emergency was not lifted and if
the freedoms in Armenia were not restored. But it sounds as perhaps
those positive steps have been taken in terms of the lifting of the
state of emergency and since the positive steps have been taken then
there is no need for us to take negative steps on our side."
"I hope very much that lifting of the state of emergency moves tensions
in Armenia to a new phase, in which freedoms and democratic momentum
in Armenia are restored and we get back on track with all of the
items on our important agenda," he said.
"The MCC has a broad scope to determine eligibility for aid. It aims
to provide assistance in response to performance and reform. If the
impression in Washington is that a country has wandered far away
from democratic reforms, then by definition there needs to be some
ratcheting back of the MCC program… I would rather not get into
a speculative discussion about what might be too much, because I
hope we have moved out of that whole set of problems. It seems that
perhaps right now we are seeing the restoration of all the freedoms
and now that question of suspending assistance could become moot,
I hope. But it all depends on how fully the freedoms are restored,"
Mr Bryza said in an interview with The Armenian Reporter.
The state of emergency imposed in Yerevan on March 1 was lifted on
March 20.