Armenian Lawmaker Barred From Visiting Russia

Lusine Badalian sits on one of the committees of Interparliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States which is scheduled to meet in Saint Petersburg on Thursday.

“I was denied entry to the Russian Federation on the grounds that I am banned from entering the country,” she wrote on Facebook. “The reason is unknown.”

Russian authorities or officials did not immediately comment on the entry ban described by Badalian as “strange and worrisome.”

Moscow and Yerevan have imposed such bans on each other’s politicians and public figures in recent years amid a steady deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations. Marina Ghazarian, another Armenian lawmaker affiliated with the ruling Civil Contract party, said in March this year that she was barred from taking a transit flight to Russia en route to Turkmenistan.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry reported afterwards that Yerevan did not allow some Russian parliamentarians to monitor Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections. Another lawmaker, Konstantin Zatulin, was blacklisted by the Armenian government earlier along with other Russian politicians, pundits and media figures critical of Pashinian.

Like other Civil Contract deputies, Badalian has been a vocal critic of Russia and its policies towards Armenia. In an interview with 1in.am reposted by Pashinian’s party on October 9, she accused Moscow of “threatening and intimidating us” and held it responsible for Armenia’s 2020 war with Azerbaijan.

Badalian, who chairs the Armenian parliament committee on healthcare, also said that Armenian health authorities are taking precautionary measures against the possible spread of plague from Russia where a suspected case of the disease was reported earlier this month. Also, the 46-year-old former TV and radio host had previously denounced Russian state television for airing reports critical of Pashinian.