US cuts financial aid to Armenia - punished Yerevan, disappointed lobby - COMMENTARY

Armenia has been living on foreign financial aid and donations for many years, and the Armenian lobby abroad and pro-Armenian circles play a crucial role in organizing it. When donations and financial aid to Yerevan are cut, the lobby is the first to make a fuss.

Over recent years, the Armenian government has disappointed its supporters with its uncertain behavior. This does not go unnoticed in the financial assistance provided to it. Consequently, the US financial assistance to Armenia is dropping.

Last year, over 65 Democrats and Republicans in the US House of Representatives joined the Armenian Caucus appeal to Congress to provide financial aid to Azerbaijan and Armenia in the fiscal year 2022. They offered $2 million for Azerbaijan's conventional weapons destruction program in the Karabakh region, and $100 million for Armenia's economy, governance, rule of law, and security. The document was also signed by prominent pro-Armenian members of the House of Representatives Frank Pallone, Jackie Speier, and Adam Schiff.

They cited the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, the stabilization of civil society, and “the elimination of the humanitarian crisis in Karabakh” as reasons for receiving financial aid. However, their proposal did not pass. In response to the wishes of the Armenian lobby, the White House allocated $45 million to Armenia in 2022.

The Biden administration has proposed allocating $24 million in foreign aid to Armenia in the 2023 state budget. In other words, the administration envisages $23.405 million in foreign aid to Armenia in 2023, including $600,000 in military aid and $6.05 million in the country's healthcare and drug control.

Although $2 million has been allocated for demining Karabakh this year, no assistance has been earmarked for next year.

Apparently, the approved US financial aid to Armenia is cut by $21 million. During the conflict, the Armenian lobby received additional assistance from the United States each year in the name of helping the Armenian community in Karabakh. The state budget for 2023 does not provide for this.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is very upset by this step of the White House. Over $100 million in aid proposals they requested last year have not been accepted this year, and aid from next year's state budget is being reduced.

In addition, the Armenian lobby was dissatisfied with President Biden's desire to allocate about $9.7 million in aid to Azerbaijan for the fiscal year 2023. By the way, this does not include additional funds received by Azerbaijan from the US Department of Defense under Section 333 (capacity building). According to a report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in March, Azerbaijan received more than $164 million in assistance from the United States under Section 333.

ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian said they would intensify efforts to increase aid to Armenia and separatists in Karabakh.

The Armenian lobby has made up so many excuses to get financial aid from the United States that even they have lost a sense of reality. ANCA has appealed to the White House and Congress to provide $50 million in financial aid to Karabakh Armenians to help resettle more than 100,000 Armenians fleeing the region in 2020. Thus, the lobby organization admitted that the propaganda on the number of Armenians in Karabakh was false.

The Russian peacekeepers and Armenian sources say that tens of thousands of Armenians live in this territory of Azerbaijan. It can be concluded that ANCA is engaged in fraudulence. Presumably, they intend to get financial aid in this way and spend it in an indefinite direction, that is to pocket it.

In general, such cases of embezzlement often occur in Armenian lobby organizations. The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is a leading fraud. At the end of 2019, the Chamber of Auditors of Armenia revealed fraud in the activities of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund in the amount of $190,000 (89,942,000 drams). It surfaced that this organization was engaged in fraud by collecting funds under the name of "Military Insurance Fund".

In June 2018, the director of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, Ara Vardanyan, was arrested on suspicion of embezzling large sums of money from a public organization. By the end of the 44-day war, the Fund's fundraising campaign had raised $170 million from community members in 73 different countries. There was no transparency in the collection of this amount of money.

The reduction in the US financial aid to Armenia may be related to the lack of transparency in this area and the uncertain foreign policy pursued by official Yerevan. From this point of view, the reduction in financial aid can be assessed as a result of official Yerevan's bustling, unstable behavior between Russia and the West. The war in Ukraine has revealed the true face of Armenia. In particular, Russia's using four Armenian Su-30 fighters in bombing Ukraine will further upset the Armenian lobby in terms of financial aid and support. Thus, Armenia and the Armenian lobby receive a "reward" and are punished for their unreliability in the form of a reduction in US financial aid.