Mat Whatley: Why is UK spending money in country that beats up its footy fans?

Former European diplomat Mat Whatley wonders what on earth Britain is doing helping the Government of Armenia - a nation which seems to dislike the UK and clearly wants to be a Soviet state, Report informs.

He shared his thoughts on this matter in an article published on the Express newspaper website.

“Before Britain spends money “improving governance” in a faraway country we should probably ask whether it is likely to succeed,” writes Mat Whatley, a British army veteran and former head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Donetsk, the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia in the Caucasus, as well as former OSCE spokesman in then Yugoslavia.

When the faraway country in question is a former Soviet state with next to nothing to do with the UK – a founding member of Russia’s military and economic club – then that holds doubly true.

“The country in question is Armenia, and currently Great Britain is investing enormous amounts of time, tax-payers’ money and diplomatic resources into the so-called “UK-Armenia Strategic Dialogue”, which aims to improve Armenia’s governance and military capacity. How very generous of us. But if we are to apply that basic test – “is this likely to succeed?” – then we know those precious resources would be better spent elsewhere.”

“Only last week 32 Welsh football fans were violently arrested in Armenia during the World Cup qualifier for doing absolutely nothing at all. One was beaten in the face by Armenian police, others were held for 24 hours in custody for committing no crime, with no evidence, and without charge.

If we are spending British resources on improving another country, we must have some indication that that country too is making some effort to meet us halfway. But Armenia seems unwilling and unable to do much to help itself,” the diplomat noted.

“There is a peace process underway between Armenia and its neighbor Azerbaijan – the latter being a country that is today pumping gas to Europe, replacing the Russian supply curtailed by the Ukraine war. That gas is extracted and pumped by Britain energy giant BP, and Britain is the biggest foreign investor in Azerbaijan, bar none.

“That’s what a real strategic partnership looks like, and the UK should be using it to bring about a peace deal with these two long-warring nations. The best way for Armenia to escape from Russia’s grasp is through partnership with its richer and more powerful neighbor – and that should be the focus of British efforts, not pouring aid money into a black hole called “governance reform”.”