Citing two unnamed U.S. State Department officials, the Associated Press news agency reported on Monday that the chiefs of mission in at least 29 countries around the world were informed last week that their tenures will end in January. It said they are due to be replaced by personnel deemed fully supportive of Trump.
The State Department declined to comment on specific numbers or ambassadors affected, but defended the changes, calling them “a standard process in any administration.” According to the Associated Press, it noted that an ambassador is “a personal representative of the president and it is the president’s right to ensure that he has individuals in these countries who advance the America First agenda.”
A U.S. ambassador’s tour of duty typically lasts for three to four years. Kvien took over the U.S. mission in Yerevan in February 2023. Like the other recalled ambassadors, she was appointed to the post by Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden.
The Biden administration strongly supported Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, praising his government’s “democratic reforms” and pro-Western foreign policy. It was accused by the Armenian opposition of turning a blind eye to its undemocratic practices in Armenia for geopolitical reasons.
Several Armenian opposition lawmakers urged the West to end its “tolerance” of such practices before meeting with Kvien in May 2024 to complain about the arrests of dozens of people in Armenia’s northern Tavush region protesting against Pashinian’s handover of local border areas to Azerbaijan.
The crackdown continued when the protests reached Yerevan in the following days. On June 12, 2024, Armenian security forces hurled dozens of Russian-made stun grenades as they confronted thousands of demonstrators demanding Pashinian’s resignation. At least 83 protesters and 8 journalists were injured as a result.
The use of force was condemned by 17 Armenian civic groups mostly funded by the United States and the European Union. The Western watchdogs Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International also criticized it. By contrast, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia avoided such criticism in a statement issued on June 13, 2024.
“We urge protestors to responsibly exercise their right to freedom of assembly by eschewing violence,” the statement said, adding that Armenian law-enforcement authorities should investigate, for their part, “any incidents in which procedures may have been violated.”