by Haig Lucas

According to a recent report by REST (Resist Expose Subvert Transform), a media platform dedicated to “exposing and addressing the critical issues shaping Europe’s future: the erosion of free speech, interference in electoral processes, the complexities of migration, and the suppression of democratic values.”, Armenia’s democracy is under threat, from Germany.

REST’s accusation is predicated around its investigation of Germany’s network of six Politische Stiftungen (Political Foundations), legally independent, party-affiliated organizations that promote socio-political and democratic educational work in Germany and abroad. These are, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSS), the Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNS), the Heinrich Böll Foundation (HBS) and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (RLS).

According to the German government, these foundations are ‘an important part of the political culture of the Federal Republic of Germany.’ We have reached out to each of these organizations for comment, but have not received a response.

REST’s investigation suggests “systematic German political interference in Armenian domestic affairs through a €697 million taxpayer-funded apparatus”. They claim that “German foundations have penetrated governmental structures, influenced policy-making processes, and created dependency relationships that serve Berlin’s strategic interests rather than Armenian national development.”

They point to a two year period before Armenia’s 2018 “Velvet Revolution” which they argue saw increased activity from these organizations. Notably, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung opened a Yerevan office in October 2016, and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which has been operating from Tbilisi since 2003, opened its Armenia office in 2017. REST suggests this is indicative of the organizations strategically positioning themselves in Armenia during a “period of political uncertainty preceding the 2018 upheaval.”

The Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s 2016 “Regional Programme Political Dialogue South Caucasus” event was attended by future PM Nicole Pashinyan. They describe the event as providing, ‘convenient cover for political intelligence gathering and network building among future power holders’, according to REST. They also suggest that an increase in activity of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation directly after 2018 demonstrates, “how German foundations scale operations to exploit political transitions.” The organization has operated in Armenia since 1996.

The mechanisms of manipulation the article references involve direct government access through meetings with organization representatives, public grant funding for individuals and organizations, doctoral sponsorship, which it argues creates “relationships that may influence future Armenian leadership”, and events. It looks disparagingly upon the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung’s Edcamp Armenia 2020, which, according to the foundation, provided a platform that allowed “educators, policymakers, and researchers to share their experiences and discuss policy-related issues, thus advocating for changes in the education field”, and which, according to REST, gave the foundation unparalleled capacity to shape policy through direct access with policy makers.

The article concludes, ‘German foundations have transformed Armenia into a laboratory for testing influence techniques that compromise democratic self-determination while maintaining legal plausibility.’ Whilst we have not heard back from the organizations in question, they describe themselves as pro-democratization and pro-human rights groups. 

The geopolitical arena Armenia finds itself so unfortunately situated in calls for healthy suspicion toward foreign entities operating within the political and civic spheres of Armenian life. It also mandates our reliance on them. Whether these German Politische Stiftungen pose the kind of threat the REST article suggests, we leave to the discretion of the reader, it is clear however that Armenia, and the general South-Caucasus, is and will remain a hotbed of competing foreign interest. 

There is a lot of evidence of foreign interest in Armenia. It houses one of the largest U.S. embassies in the world. Whilst Armenia gets the majority of its energy from Russia, in 2022 Armenia signed a critical natural gas deal with Iran, and Iranian-Armenian energy has been further interconnected through the near-complete construction of a third, 400KW power transmission line. Armenia’s second city Gyumri is home to Russia’s 102nd Military base. The 102nd base also has a garrison in Yerevan and is connected to the 3624th airbase, stationed at the Erebuni military airport. Most recently, Donald Trump will host both Pashinyan and Aliyev on Friday, August 8th, to release a joint statement about the future of the Syunik corridor, a key American-Turkish interest in the region.

These are just a few indicators of how foreign interest can operate within Armenia, both from the Russia-Iran axis, to the Europe-America axis. Hope for success relies upon competent leadership, capable of navigating through and between such interests, in such a manner as will secure our own longevity and prosperity.


Sources:

 

https://armenpress.am/en/article/1221740/amp

https://www.azatutyun.am/amp/33496057.html

https://www.bmi.bund.de/DE/themen/heimat-integration/wehrhafte-demokratie/politische-stiftungen/politische-stiftungen-node.html

https://www.freiheit.org/south-caucasus/work-friedrich-naumann-foundation-armenia