An internal report by the European Union Delegation to Armenia states that the UK and US have pressured the country over a controversial gold mining project, openDemocracy reports today.
The Amulsar gold mine shot to the forefront of Armenian politics after the country underwent its “Velvet Revolution” in 2018, when public protests forced the ruling Republican Party out of power. In the aftermath local residents and environmental activists began a blockade of the unfinished $400m mining project, bringing them into conflict with British-American mining company Lydian International, the company’s international supporters and the Armenian government.
“It doesn’t matter to us who wants to exploit the mine. There will be no mining industry in Jermuk,” local activist Shirak Buniatyan recently told the newspaper Hraparak. “Those who try to open a mine here will waste their money.”
