ArmInfo. Freedom House in its report on Freedom and Democracy has ranked Armenia along with Georgia as a partly free country, which has recorded a democratic progress in 2018.
In an interview with ''Voice of America'', Marc Behrendt, the Director for Europe and Eurasia programs at Freedom House, commenting the report emphasized that in 2018, Armenia, along with other countries, showed unexpected progress in terms of democratization. "What happened in Armenia was completely the result of internal political processes, it was unexpected and was not provoked from the outside," the director said.
The recent processes in Armenia in the Freedom House report were qualified as "a massive, non- violent wave that forced the former regime to respond to a public demand, as a result of which power passed to reformers led by Nikol Pashinyan".
Marc Behrendt, along with positive trends, stressed the need for a critical approach and the responsibility of the authorities. "It is important that civil society, which for many years was out of power, now has the opportunity to cooperate with the government, but at the same time it is extremely important that it be critical and make the government take responsibility for its actions," Behrendt said.
The report says that Armenia and other countries that registered unexpected changes during 2018 deserve special attention in 2019. The organization encourages foreign donors to give priority to this subgroup of countries. "Of course, it is very important to support Armenia, since these changes require financial assistance. The security of Armenia is under threat, it continues to be a serious problem, "Behrendt stressed.
Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, and also Russia were ranked as not free countries. As for Azerbaijan, the report speaks of repression, embezzlement of public funds and oppression of political opponents.