Tuesday, EU Envoy Rejects Criticism From Armenian Government . Nane Sahakian . Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Piotr Switalski, the head of the EU Delegation in Armenia, speaks at a news conference in Yerevan, 20Jun2017. The head of the European Union mission in Armenia, Piotr Switalski, dismissed on Tuesday the Armenian authorities' angry reaction to his public criticism of the conduct of the country's recent parliamentary elections. Switalski questioned on June 15 the "credibility" of the government-controlled Central Election Commission (CEC), saying that it should be expanded to comprise civil society representatives. He also decried vote buying and other irregularities reported during the April 2 elections and suggested that the country's complicated electoral system should be revised. Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian and the ruling Republican Party (HHK) responded by accusing Switalski of meddling in Armenia's internal affairs. Switalski denied the accusations, saying that his "friendly and constructive" comments were in tune with earlier statements made by other European officials. "There are issues where we, as the European Union, not only have the right but also the duty to speak up," he told a news conference. "We do it because our Armenian partners accepted certain arrangements for our engagement." The envoy argued that proper conduct of elections is among political reforms which the Armenian authorities undertook to implement in return for financial assistance provided by the EU. "These financing agreements are not imposed," he said. "They are negotiated and agreed upon by the two sides." Early this year, the EU provided the Armenian authorities with more than $7 million for the purchase of special electronic equipment used during the parliamentary elections. In her official reaction to the vote, the EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the voter authentication devices and web cameras installed in Armenian polling stations minimized serious fraud such as multiple voting. An April 4 statement by Mogherini's spokesperson deplored "credible information about vote-buying" and voter intimidation reported by European election observers. Still, it concluded that the official election result, which gave a landslide victory to the ruling HHK, "reflects the overall will of the Armenian people." Switalski similarly said that the EU funding led to "some improvements" in the electoral process. "We live in an interconnected world," the diplomat went on. "We must accept that there are mechanisms, conventions, treaties, working arrangements which enable others to express their views on what happens in one or another country." "We are very glad that so many ordinary Armenians understand this without my lectures or other educational efforts. And I'm not surprised because Armenians # perfectly understand that threats to [their country's] sovereignty lie somewhere else, and not in our friendly support," he stressed without elaborating. Armenia -- Armen Ashotian, a leader of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan. Meanwhile, a senior HHK figure, Armen Ashotian, stood by the government criticism of Switalski's comments and insisted that the legislative polls were democratic. "Everyone could point to Europeans' growing skepticism towards European institutions," he told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "But no Armenian official would allow themselves to talk about that with their European partners because they consider challenges facing European institutions an internal European affair." "I would warn against setting an artificial election agenda now because we have already written and turned that page together," he said. "So let's talk about the future and our tasks ahead, instead of revising something that is already a political reality." Ashotian, who chairs the Armenian parliament's foreign relations committee, also expressed confidence that the public spat will not undermine Yerevan's efforts to forge closer ties with the EU. The upcoming signing of a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement will raise the EU-Armenia relationship to "a new level," he said. The agreement will also demonstrate that "it's possible to build the European type of a state even in the Eurasian economic area," claimed Ashotian. Charges Against Babayan Eased . Sisak Gabrielian Armenia -- Former Karabakh Army commander Samvel Babayan speaks to RFE/RL in Yerevan, 17Oct2016 Law-enforcement authorities have somewhat reduced criminal charges levelled against Samvel Babayan, a retired army general close to an Armenian opposition alliance who was controversially arrested in March. Babayan's lawyer, Avetis Kalashian, revealed on Tuesday that he no longer stands accused of smuggling weapons into Armenia. He is only facing accusations of illegal arms "circulation" and money laundering, Kalashian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). Kalashian did not elaborate, promising to comment on the case in detail later on. Babayan will risk up to 11 years in prison if found guilty of the revised charges. The initial criminal case against him carried up to 13 years' imprisonment. Babayan was arrested on March 21 hours after Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) claimed to have confiscated a Russian-made surface-to-air rocket system. The NSS alleged afterwards that the once powerful general, who was Nagorno-Karabakh's top military commander from 1993-1993, paid two other men to smuggle the shoulder-fired Igla systems from Georgia. The arrest came about two weeks before Armenia's parliamentary elections. Babayan was unofficially affiliated with the opposition ORO alliance led by former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian and two other opposition politicians. ORO condemned the criminal case as politically motivated. Kalashian said that his client continues to insist on his innocence. The lawyer also said that the criminal investigation into the case has been completed, meaning that Babayan will go on trial soon. The only other arrested suspect in the case is Sanasar Gabrielian, a longtime friend of Babayan's who also actively participated in the Karabakh war. He too is accused of illegal arms possession, a charge partly accepted by him. "He wanted to acquire weapons for the army by legal means," said Gabrielian's lawyer, Karapet Aghajanian. He said his client's only wrongdoing was to "deal with other individuals who did not live up to his hopes." The lawyer did not elaborate. Later in March, police in Georgia arrested an Armenian citizen wanted by the law-enforcement authorities in Yerevan as part of the same smuggling case. It emerged on Tuesday that the man identified as Robert A. has not been extradited to Armenia yet. The Office of Prosecutor-General claimed that the Georgian authorities have still not responded to an Armenian extradition demand. EU To Help Syrian Refugees In Armenia Armenia - Ethnic Armenian migrants from Syria at a meeting with Armenia's Prime Minister Karen Karapetian in Yerevan, 29Mar2017. The European Union announced on Tuesday 3 million euros ($3.3 million) in financial assistance to thousands of ethnic Armenian citizens of Syria who have taken refuge in Armenia in the last few years. The allocation is part of the EU's fresh 275 million-euro aid package for millions of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and other countries. The European Commission said the sum set aside for Syrian Armenians living in their ancestral homeland will support them "by enhancing access to health and psychosocial services, improving housing conditions, increasing access to economic opportunities, and by facilitating the integration of schoolchildren and students." A statement by the EU's executive body gave no further details. Syria was home to an estimated 80,000 ethnic Armenians before the outbreak of the devastating civil war there five years ago. Only up to 10,000 of them reportedly remain in the war-ravaged country now. Armenia -- A Syrian Armenian family from Aleppo arrives at Yerevan airport, 25Oct2016. More than 16,000 Syrian Armenians have fled to Armenia alone. Many of them have been struggling to make ends meet in the unemployment-stricken country. Armenia's cash-strapped government has been unable to provide them with significant material assistance. Nor has it managed until now to attract large-scale assistance to the migrants from external sources. The EU funding is the biggest foreign aid allocation to them to date. Drawing on their business experience in Syria, some Syrian Armenians have opened small businesses such as restaurants and manufacturing firms in Armenia,. The Armenian government has encouraged that entrepreneurship by subsidizing business loans extended to them by local commercial banks. Dozens of firms set up by Syrian Armenians demonstrated their products and services during a German-sponsored fair held in Yerevan in May 2016. The four-day exhibition was aimed at facilitating their economic integration in Armenia. Press Review "Zhoghovurd" reports and comments on a statement which the American, Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group issued on Monday at the end of their latest tour of Armenia, Karabakh and Azerbaijan. "It is evident that the conflicting sides are not sincere in their statements on a compromise solution to the conflict," writes the paper. "Otherwise, they would not have attempted to torpedo the peace process with different methods and would have really opted for mutual concessions." The paper says that Azerbaijan is particularly disinterested in a peaceful settlement. It says this is why the mediators again effectively blamed Baku for ceasefire violations. But as "Haykakan Zhamanak" points out, the mediators stopped short of explicitly condemning Baku for the deaths of four Armenian soldiers late last week. The paper claims that the statement is a "victory for Azerbaijan." It further speculates that the mediators' claim that the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents are ready to "resume political dialogue" amounts to pressure on Serzh Sarkisian. It suggests that the Armenia is hardly eager to meet with Ilham Aliyev in the coming weeks or even months. "Azerbaijan is really preparing for war," writes "Hraparak." "More seriously than it did before the April 2016 war, say official circles." "Aravot" reacts to a rift among the five members of Yerevan's newly elected municipal assembly representing the radical opposition Yerkir Tsirani party led by Zaruhi Postanjian. "If this party really wants to change something in the capital, it must definitely cooperate with [the opposition bloc] Yelk and the [ruling] HHK," editorializes the paper. "Or else, there will be only scandals and screams with no results whatsoever. Those who stand for such cooperation are not traitors if their agreements are public and principled." (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org