INTL Europe: Politics, Economics, and Military- February 2021

[Plain Jane]

'One-way road to freedom': Johnson sets out cautious lockdown exit plan

Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled a map out of lockdown for England on Monday that would keep some businesses shuttered until the summer, saying caution was necessary to ensure there were no reversals on a "one-way road to freedom".

www.reuters.com

FEBRUARY 21, 20215:37 PMUPDATED 35 MINUTES AGO

British PM Johnson to plot path out of lockdown on Monday
By Kate Holton
4 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chart England’s path out of COVID-19 lockdown on Monday in an effort to gradually reopen its battered economy, aided by one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world.

With more than 120,000 fatalities, Britain has suffered the world’s fifth-highest official death toll from the pandemic and its $3 trillion economy its biggest crash in more than 300 years.

But a fast start to the vaccine rollout plus a tough near-two-month national lockdown means Johnson can now set out a phased easing of the restrictions in England, prioritising the return of children to school and social mixing outdoors.

“Our decisions will be made on the latest data at every step, and we will be cautious about this approach so that we do not undo the progress we have achieved so far,” he will say, according to his office.


Lawmakers will have a chance to vote on Johnson’s plan in parliament. Authorities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, which have responsibility for their own public health decisions, are also expected to ease restrictions in the coming months.

Nadhim Zahawi, the minister in charge of the vaccine rollout, said English schools would reopen on March 8. They have been open only to vulnerable pupils and to key workers’ children since Jan. 5, with all others studying at home.

Zahawi also said on LBC Radio that two people from separate households would be allowed to meet outdoors from March 8, while from March 29 outdoor socialising would be permitted for groups of six people maximum, or for two households together. Outdoor sports will also be allowed to resume from March 29, he said.

SPEEDY VACCINE ROLLOUT
Under pressure on one side from politicians in his ruling Conservative Party eager to restart the economy, and on the other from scientific advisers who fear a resurgence of the virus if he unlocks too quickly, Johnson faces tough choices.

He has appeared much more cautious in recent months than he did earlier on in the pandemic.


Health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday that after each step to ease restrictions, there would be a pause of a couple of weeks to assess the impact on the wider population before any further relaxation was implemented.

Johnson is expected to set out four criteria to be considered before each new step is taken, including the speed and success of the inoculation programme, the state of infection rates and the impact of any new variants of the virus.

Britain moved faster than many other Western countries to secure vaccine supplies and has been inoculating people rapidly since December, a strategy that has driven sterling and stock markets higher on hopes of an economic rebound.


Some 17.6 million people, over a quarter of the 67 million population, have now received a first dose, behind only Israel and the United Arab Emirates in vaccines per head of population. The government aims to give a first dose to all adults by the end of July.

Hancock also said Britain had recently succeeded in driving down cases of the more infectious South African variant. Overall daily coronavirus cases hovered around 11,000 a day last week, compared with a high of over 80,000 in late December.

Additional reporting by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Gareth Jones
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Thousands protest in Tbilisi after arrest of Georgian opposition leader

Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied in Georgia on Tuesday after the arrest of an opposition leader, deepening a political crisis that erupted after disputed elections last year.

www.france24.com

Georgian police arrest top opposition leader, deepening political crisis
Issued on: 23/02/2021 - 07:25

In this file photo taken on February 17, 2021 Nika Melia, one of the leaders of exiled former president Mikheil Saakashvili's United National Movement (UNM), holds a briefing at the UNM headquarters in Tbilisi. © Vano Shlamov, AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES
2 min
Georgian police on Tuesday arrested a top opposition leader and used tear gas in a violent raid on his party headquarters, further deepening a political crisis sparked by last year's disputed parliamentary elections.

Live television footage showed Nika Melia, the leader of the United National Movement, the country's main opposition party, being dragged from his party headquarters to be placed in pre-trial detention.

Meanwhile hundreds of riot police used tear gas against his supporters and the leaders of all of the country's opposition parties, who have been camped out in the building since Wednesday, the Mtavari TV live pictures showed.

Scores of opposition supporters were detained.

"Shocked by the scenes at UNM headquarters this morning," British ambassador Mark Clayton wrote on Twitter. "Violence and chaos in Tbilisi are the last thing Georgia needs right now. I urge all sides to act with restraint, now and in the coming days."

Georgia has been in the grip of a political crisis since last October's parliamentary elections, which opposition parties have denounced as rigged.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned over ruling party Georgian Dream's plans to arrest Melia.

News of the plan sparked outrage among the opposition and warnings from the ex-Soviet country's Western allies.

In the wake of Gakharia's resignation, the opposition called for snap parliamentary polls.
Last week, the United States and the European Union called on Georgia's government to resolve the crisis peacefully and to ensure its judicial system stays free of political bias.

Melia has dismissed the charges laid against him of "organising mass violence" during anti-government protests in 2019 as politically motivated.
(AFP)

 

[Plain Jane]

Britain agrees to EU request for more time to ratify Brexit trade deal

Britain has agreed to the European Union's request to delay ratification of their post-Brexit trade agreement until April 30, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said on Tuesday.

www.reuters.com

FEBRUARY 23, 20219:34 AMUPDATED 18 HOURS AGO

Britain agrees to EU request for more time to ratify Brexit trade deal
By Reuters Staff
1 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has agreed to the European Union’s request to delay ratification of their post-Brexit trade agreement until April 30, cabinet office minister Michael Gove said on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, the EU asked Britain if it could take extra time to ratify the agreement by extending until April 30 provisional application of the deal to ensure it was in all 24 of the bloc’s languages for parliamentary scrutiny.

In a letter to Maros Sefcovic, vice president of the European Commission, Gove wrote: “I can confirm that the United Kingdom is content to agree that the date on which provisional application shall cease to apply ... should be extended to 30 April 2021.”

He also said Britain expected there to be no more delays.

(Corrects day in first paragraph)

Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; editing by William James
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[jward]

‘America Is Back,’ but Europe Has Moved
Macron and Merkel respond coolly to Biden, and public opinion backs them.
By Feb. 23, 2021 6:30 pm ET

https://www.wsj.com/articles/america-is-back-but-europe-has-moved-11614123041#comments_sector

A video-conference between President Biden and European leaders at the Munich Security Conference shown on-screen in Paris, Feb. 19.
Photo: benoit tessier/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images




This feature is powered by text-to-speech technology. Want to see it on more articles?
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President Biden set out to declare a triumphant U.S. return to the trans-Atlantic alliance. “America is back,” the president said in his speech this week to the Munich Security Conference. The leaders of France and Germany promptly made it clear that the four years of the Trump presidency had changed the relationship.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron renewed his call for Europe’s “strategic autonomy,” which would require the Continent to be prepared to defend itself. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel bluntly stated that the interests of the U.S. and Europe wouldn’t always converge, which most listeners took as a reference to the European Union’s recent trade pact with China, along with Germany’s determination to complete the Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline from Russia. The U.S. may be back, but it can’t expect to reclaim its old seat at the head of the table.

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Underlying the muted response to Mr. Biden’s speech is what the European Council on Foreign Relations calls a “massive change” in European public opinion toward the U.S. The group’s recent poll finds: “Majorities in key member states now think the US political system is broken, that China will be more powerful than the US within a decade, and that Europeans cannot rely on the US to defend them.”

These beliefs are driving fundamental changes in European policy preferences. “Large numbers think Europeans should invest in their own defense,” the poll found, “and look to Berlin rather than Washington as their most important partner. They want to be tougher with the US on economic issues. And, rather than aligning with Washington, they want their countries to stay neutral in a conflict between the US and Russia or China”—a stance endorsed by at least half the electorate in each of the 11 countries surveyed.


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In every country except Poland and Hungary, pluralities agreed with the statement that after voting for Donald Trump in 2016, the American people can no longer be trusted. In Germany, a majority endorsed this sentiment.

For decades, Europeans believed that American politics would oscillate within defined boundaries that assured our reliability. Mr. Trump’s election undermined this belief, and Mr. Biden’s victory didn’t restore it. The revolt against elites in both major U.S. political parties isn’t going away, and populists may someday be back in power.

The problem goes deeper than the destruction of political guardrails. Sixty-one percent of Europeans believe that the U.S. political system is “broken.” This figure includes 66% of the French, 71% of Germans and, remarkably, 81% of British respondents. In a such a system, gridlock and drift are the most likely outcomes.

In Europe’s eyes, America’s decline coincides with China’s rise. Fifty-nine percent of Europeans—including 56% of Germans, 58% of the British, and 62% of the French—believe that within 10 years, China will displace the U.S. as the world’s leading power. This helps explain why in case of disagreement between the U.S. and China, 60% of Europeans believe that their country should remain neutral, compared with 22% who say that they should take America’s side.

This stance extends to the threat from Russia. Amid tension between the U.S. and Russia—which seized the Crimea and threatens Ukraine’s territorial integrity—59% prefer neutrality, while 23% want to cast their lot with America. Astonishingly, the Poles—the most anti-Russian people in Europe—opt for neutrality over taking the U.S. side, 45% to 36%.

As perceptions of America’s weakness mount, more Europeans are starting to favor being tougher on the U.S. on economic issues. These Europeans resist American pressure to distance themselves from China, which they regard as an important trading partner, and they will be in no rush to renegotiate their trade relationships with the U.S. “America First” has triggered a reaction—Europe First.

The weakening of America has also heightened European perceptions of Germany’s significance. A majority of countries surveyed regarded Germany as the most important power. Germany—long the staunchest defender of America’s role in Europe—now regards France as its most important ally.

No one can predict how these attitudes might change in the face of a military threat from the east. And if the Biden administration masters the pandemic, unlocks economic growth and stabilizes American political institutions, Europeans may reconsider their views about the trans-Atlantic alliance. Still, the Biden administration is learning the truth of Heraclitus ’ ancient maxim: You cannot step into the same river twice.



WSJ Opinion: As Protests in Russia Escalate, Will Biden Act?
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WSJ Opinion: As Protests in Russia Escalate, Will Biden Act?
Alexei Navalny’s arrest shows that Vladimir Putin doesn’t fear the West’s rhetorical protests. Image: Komsomolskaya Pravda/Zuma Press

Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Appeared in the February 24, 2021, print edition.

posted for fair use

Opinion | ‘America Is Back,’ but Europe Has Moved

Macron and Merkel respond coolly to Biden, and public opinion backs them.

www.wsj.com

 

[Melodi]

In some ways, Trump got exactly what he wanted, a more independent Europe that has realized (or at least some of the nations here have realized) they must start spending money on their own defense and looking at the world through their own eyes, not just what American (any administration) wants them to see.

Getting Europe to start taking on more responsibility for itself has occurred, which is what the Trump administration said they wanted (or at least they didn't want the US to continue to pay for European defense).

There is also "local" stuff going on here in terms of the EU not nearly being as popular as it was, and institutions under threat often point fingers and try to act all tough and decisive.

But basically, Bidens handler's handlers are finding they can't have their cake and eat it too; at this point for better or worse, the EU at least wants to give the appearance of having more (not less) independence from the US direct influence.

Now if this is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, in the long run, the EU may not even exist and things may go back to relations between independent countries rather than a block.

On the other hand, Europe is simply not likely to decide to depend on cargo ships full of gas and heating oil to keep their cities going in Winter when they can make treaties with Russia that builds on older pipelines that already went into parts of former East Germany.

Especially after the shipping disasters of COVID-19 and 2020, the EU would be fools to depend on such shipping but also foolish not to look for resources within their own borders because Russia is an iffy business partner.

I don't like the continued association with the Chinese, but no one asked me...that is a topic for another day.

 

[Plain Jane]

No breakthrough at UK-EU talks, says Northern Ireland's Foster

There was no breakthrough at a "hugely disappointing" meeting between the European Commission and the British government on Wednesday over post-Brexit trade issues in Northern Ireland, the region's first minister, Arlene Foster, said on Wednesday.

www.reuters.com

FEBRUARY 24, 20211:50 PMUPDATED 12 HOURS AGO

No breakthrough at UK-EU talks, says Northern Ireland's Foster
By Reuters Staff
3 MIN READ

BELFAST (Reuters) - There was no breakthrough at a “hugely disappointing” meeting between the European Commission and the British government on Wednesday over post-Brexit trade issues in Northern Ireland, the region’s first minister, Arlene Foster, said on Wednesday.

The British government is demanding concessions from the European Union to minimise disruption in trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom that have emerged since Britain left the bloc’s trading orbit in January.

The European Union has said it will be pragmatic in seeking solutions, but has blamed the disruption on Britain’s decision to exit the European Union and has called for London to implement measures agreed.

Foster, who attended the online meeting between European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic and British minister Michael Gove, said there had been “no breakthrough”.

“I can’t say I am surprised given the attitude of the EU to the protocol,” she told Northern Irish broadcaster UTV.

The Northern Ireland Protocol of Britain’s EU withdrawal deal effectively left the British province of Northern Ireland within the EU’s single market, and put a customs border in the Irish Sea dividing the province from mainland Britain.

Foster, who has supported the British demands for concessions, said Sefcovic refused a short extension of certain post-Brexit grace periods. She did not say what exactly Britain had asked for.


Foster said she wanted the protocol to be replaced at least in part. “We are not asking for the impossible at all,” she said.

Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill, a member of Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein who also attended the meeting, was more positive.

“Both sides restated their commitment to finding practical solutions,” she said in a statement.

“I encouraged intensified efforts to find practical solutions to any problems within the framework of the Protocol, which is part of a legal-binding treaty and not going away, something which all parties must recognise,” she added.

Reporting by Ian Graham, writing by Conor Humpries, editing by David Milliken
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Coronavirus: France announces new border checks with Germany – DW – 02/25/2021

France is set to tighten controls in its Moselle region, as the rate of infection due to new variants rises in the area. From Monday, cross-border workers will have to submit to a PCR test before crossing.

www.dw.com

Coronavirus: France announces new border checks with Germany
France is set to tighten controls in its Moselle region, as the rate of infection due to new variants rises in the area. From Monday, cross-border workers will have to submit to a PCR test before crossing.




French officials check cars at the French-Belgian border in Maulde

France on Thursday said it would tighten controls at the German border to curb the spread of coronavirus, which is spreading faster in the eastern Moselle region than elsewhere in France.

"Strengthening of health measures at the Franco-German border in Moselle, from March 1," the Ministry of Solidarity and Health tweeted.

From Monday, workers commuting between Germany and Moselle will have to submit to a weekly PCR test before being allowed to cross the border, Health Minister Olivier Veran and European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said in a statement.


Watch video12:01
Europeans cross borders to escape tough lockdowns
The new measures follow a warning from the German government last week that it was considering extending new travel restrictions to its French border, due to the rise of new, more infectious virus variants in the Moselle region.

How far do the controls extend?
French workers regularly crossing the border with Luxembourg will not be targeted by the new requirement. The current rule that travelers other than cross-border workers arriving from another EU country must take a PCR test ahead of arrival in France is still in force.

France said that joint border police patrols "could be reinforced" to ensure compliance.

The move comes as EU leaders held a virtual summit to discuss pandemic-related topics, including border closures and vaccine passports. The European Commission has criticized recent border closures in several EU countries as disproportionate, and has written warning letters to Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary and Sweden about their measures.

Checks implemented at Germany's borders with the Austrian state of Tyrol, the Czech Republic and Slovakia earlier this month wreaked traffic havoc and caused travel chaos in some of the regions.



Watch video02:36
COVID: Germany bans travel from Austrian, Czech regions
lc/aw (AFP, dpa)

 

[Plain Jane]

In independence threat, Scotland's ex-first minister attacks government

Scotland's former first minister Alex Salmond accused the nation's government on Friday of acting illegally and lacking leadership in a bitter row with his successor that threatens to damage the Scottish independence movement.

www.reuters.com

FEBRUARY 26, 20218:47 AMUPDATED 16 HOURS AGO
In independence threat, Scotland's ex-first minister attacks government
By Elizabeth Piper, Kate Holton
4 MIN READ

LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland’s former first minister Alex Salmond accused the nation’s government on Friday of acting illegally and lacking leadership in a bitter row with his successor that threatens to damage the Scottish independence movement.

The feud between Salmond and his successor Nicola Sturgeon, has reached fever pitch in recent weeks, pitting the former friends against each other in a sparring match that could eventually put pressure on her to resign.

Sturgeon has denied his accusations.

First Minister Sturgeon and her bid for a second independence referendum have been riding high in opinion polls, with many praising her handling of Scotland’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Support has fallen back, although a majority still back a second referendum.

Salmond, who was cleared of committing multiple sex offences against women last year, said the handling of his case by the Scottish government had shown a failure of leadership, accusing politicians of being too close to the judiciary.

“The government acted illegally, but somehow nobody’s to blame,” Salmond told an inquiry into the government’s handling of the case.

“Collectively these events shine a light on a government whose actions are no longer true to the principles of openness, accountability and transparency, which are the core principles on which this Scottish parliament was founded.”



Slideshow ( 3 images )
He added: “Some consequences should follow from unlawful conduct.”

Salmond was once Sturgeon’s mentor and the two of them formed a powerful partnership that made the Scottish National Party a dominant force in Scotland and took them close to winning an independence referendum in 2014, when Scots voted 55%-45% to remain in the United Kingdom.

But the allegations of sexual harassment against Salmond in 2018, which he has denied, drove a wedge between them, and resulted in the SNP becoming fractured, which could dent the party’s predicted victory in a local election in May.


The row stems from Sturgeon’s handling of the government’s response to the case against Salmond and whether she misled parliament over the details of what and when she knew of the allegations against her predecessor.

Friday’s inquiry is looking at the government and its handling of the case. Salmond described the government as having been “found to have ... acted unlawfully, unfairly and tainted by apparent bias”.

On Thursday, Sturgeon told Scotland’s parliament that she would answer fully to the inquiry and accused opposition politicians of siding with Salmond and sacrificing their principles on the “altar of the ego of one man”.

Sturgeon wants a strong showing for her party in May’s election to hand her a mandate to hold a second referendum on independence - something British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will not approve.

Asked about the Salmond case, a spokesman for the British premier told reporters: “His focus and the focus of politicians through the UK should be on fighting the pandemic, working together to defeat COVID and building back better.”

Scots voted against independence in a referendum in 2014 but with Britain’s subsequent departure from the European Union, the movement has gained fresh momentum since Scotland wanted to stay in the bloc.

Additional reporting by Costas Pitas and Michael Holden; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Giles Elgood
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

 

[Plain Jane]

Ireland: Hundreds rally in violent anti-lockdown protest – DW – 02/28/2021

Days after the Irish government extended the coronavirus lockdown by a month, hundreds of people joined a protest in Dublin that escalated into violence. Several policemen were injured and 23 people were arrested.

www.dw.com

Ireland: Hundreds rally in violent anti-lockdown protest
Days after the Irish government extended the coronavirus lockdown by a month, hundreds of people joined a protest in Dublin that escalated into violence. Several policemen were injured and 23 people were arrested.




Irish police charged at the anti-curfew protesters with batons and made 23 arrests

Hundreds of people on Saturday took to the streets of Dublin for a planned demonstration that quickly turned into violent clashes between protesters and police.

The protesters tried to march to a city center park to protest Ireland's coronavirus lockdown measures but were blocked from the area by the police.

They chanted "end the lockdown" and handed out leaflets that read, "Let Ireland live." Among the crowd were people wearing clothing with the logo of Ireland's far-right National Party.

The situation dramatically escalated after a man fired two firework rockets at the police at point-blank range. Videos of this attack at Dublin's Grafton Street have been widely circulated and condemned on social media.

Police subsequently charged the crowd with batons and arrested 23 people.
Several police were injured in clashes with the protesters and one of the officers had to be hospitalized.

Some of the protesters who had arrived were "obviously intent on violence," Police Commissioner Drew Harris told Irish broadcaster RTE.



Watch video02:12
Dutch anti-curfew protesters clash with police
"You don't carry fireworks to a protest for any other purpose than to engage in violent conduct," he said.
'No justification'
The large gathering and violence were condemned by Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin as "totally unacceptable."

The protest "showed a complete lack of respect to the people who have made huge sacrifices during this pandemic," Martin said in a statement. "There can be no justification for the march or the violence that unfolded."

Several police officers were injured in clashes with the protesters

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said that a special court sitting was being arranged so that the people arrested were "prosecuted speedily."

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar also condemned the violence in a Twitter post.

Ireland is currently in the middle of its third lockdown, which the government on Tuesday extended a month to April 5. Schools, however, will gradually start reopening from Monday.

The country managed to keep coronavirus infection and death figures relatively low, but a relaxation of restrictions around the holiday season in December led to a surge in new cases.

According to Oxford University data, Ireland had the highest per capita infection rate in the world in early January.
adi/sms (AFP, dpa)

 

[Plain Jane]

Armenia’s president rebuffs PM Pashinyan’s order to sack top army official

Armenian President Armen Sarkisian said Saturday he had refused to sign a prime ministerial order to dismiss the army's chief of staff, deepening an entrenched national political crisis.

www.france24.com

Armenia’s president rebuffs PM Pashinyan’s order to sack top army official
Issued on: 27/02/2021 - 17:04Modified: 27/02/2021 - 17:07

Opposition supporters rally outside the parliament building in Yerevan to demand Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation on February 26, 2021. © Karen Minasyan, AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES
3 min
Armenian President Armen Sarkisian said Saturday he had refused to sign a prime ministerial order to dismiss the army's chief of staff, deepening an entrenched national political crisis.

The move came as several thousand opposition protesters took to the streets of Armenia's capital Yerevan for the third day running to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

They want him to go over his handling of last year's war with Azerbaijan, which many see as a national humiliation.

The fresh protests, which have continued on and off since the fighting ended in November, erupted Thursday when Pashinyan defied a call by the military to resign and accused the army of an attempted coup.

He also ordered the chief of the general staff Onik Gasparyan to be fired -- but on Saturday, Armenian President Sarkisian, whose role is largely ceremonial, said in a statement that he would not back the move.

"The president of the republic, within the framework of his constitutional powers, returned the draft decree with objections," the presidency said.

The political crisis "cannot be resolved through frequent personnel changes", the statement added.

The leadership of the small South Caucasus nation appeared to be at an impasse.

Soon after the announcement, Pashinyan wrote on Facebook that he would send the order to the presidency once more, saying its decision had not defused the crisis "at all".

Thousands protest
Meanwhile, several thousand opposition protesters marched through central Yerevan, calling for the prime minister's resignation. Many more leaned out of windows and balconies along the way to cheer them on.

By 7:30 pm (1530 GMT) the procession arrived at the parliament building, where some protesters have set up camp, an AFP correspondent reported.

Roughly 5,000 demonstrators gathered there for a rally earlier in the day, urging lawmakers to take action.

"Pashinyan must leave for the sake of our state because his position is very weak today. Nobody takes him seriously," Vera Simonyan, a 28-year-old IT specialist, told AFP at the rally.

Former premier Vazgen Manukyan, who has been named by the opposition to replace Pashinyan, told the crowd that he expected the political crisis to be "resolved within two to three days".

He added: "Today Pashinyan has no support. I call on the security services and the police to join the army, to support the army."

'Humiliating agreement'
Pashinyan has faced fierce criticism since he signed a Moscow-brokered peace deal over Nagorno-Karabakh, an ethnic Armenian region that broke from Azerbaijan's control during a war in the early 1990s.

Fresh fighting broke out over the disputed territory in late September, with Baku's forces backed by ally Turkey making steady gains.

After six weeks of clashes and bombardments that claimed around 6,000 lives, a ceasefire agreement was signed that handed over significant territory to Azerbaijan and allowed for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers.

The agreement was seen as a national humiliation for many in ex-Soviet Armenia, but Pashinyan has said he had no choice but to agree or see his country's forces suffer even bigger losses.

"He must be responsible for the defeat in the war, for the signing of a humiliating agreement," 53-year-old locksmith Arut Zakaryan told AFP at Saturday's rally.

For months Pashinyan had weathered the crisis with the backing of Armenia's military, but on Thursday it too joined the calls for him to step down.

The military's general staff said in a statement that the prime minister and his cabinet were "not capable of taking adequate decisions".
(AFP)