…On April 29, on the day of the meeting of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Armenia on a working visit, and was hosted by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the government mansion. Welcoming Medvedev, he noted. “In Armenia, it is customary to receive the most precious guests at home, I am very happy for such an opportunity. I think that during the last year our relations developed as planned, of course, this does not mean that there were no questions. I think now is a very important moment in our relations, and I am sure that despite the pessimists, we will manage to raise our relations to a new level, not in spite of the pessimists, but, I think, we should turn the pessimists into optimists. Of course, we will do everything for it.”

In his speech, the Prime Minister of Armenia emphasized that relations in the Eurasian Economic Union and our participation in that organization are very important for Armenia. “We will do everything to make the Eurasian Economic Union and our membership in the Eurasian Economic Union more effective, the organization more attractive,” Nikol Pashinyan said in the continuation of his speech, adding: – I greet you once again, I am happy about your visit and I am sure that we will have a very constructive and fruitful work. We have some issues to discuss, and thank you for your visit.” In his turn, Dmitry Medvedev said: Dear Nicole Vova, First of all, thank you for the invitation, especially at such a wonderful time, because today is perfect spring weather. Secondly, there is actually a good occasion to meet, it is the meeting of the heads of governments of the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union. We regularly hold these events where various issues are discussed, including difficult ones. Now, Armenia is the presiding state in the Eurasian Union and, of course, it is important for us to move forward in the direction of solving a number of issues of the Eurasian agenda.” According to the Prime Minister’s official website, Medvedev emphasized in his speech that this is a good opportunity to discuss bilateral relations as well. “We have met with you several times, discussed the current situation of affairs, we also met at the beginning of the year when you arrived in Moscow as the prime minister of the presiding country, during which we discussed bilateral agenda issues. Now we will go through the main points, especially since our partners have prepared a number of questions for us,” said the Russian Prime Minister. Medvedev expressed hope that Armenia’s presidency in the Eurasian Union will be absolutely successful, and the negotiations will contribute to the development of cooperation between the two countries, especially since our countries are allies with a unique history of relations.

During the meeting, the interlocutors discussed current issues of Armenian-Russian trade and economic cooperation and integration interaction within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union.

 

…On April 9, the National Assembly adopted the bill submitted by the Government on making an addition to the law “On Holidays and Memorial Days”, by which the last Saturday of April is defined as Citizen’s Day. According to the adopted law, if May 1 falls on a Saturday, the last Sunday of April will be celebrated as Citizen’s Day. 124 million drams were provided to the Prime Minister’s office from the government’s reserve fund for the events, so that the events dedicated to the Citizen’s Day could be properly implemented in all regions of Armenia and in Yerevan. The need to adopt such a day in the Armenian calendar is due to the 2018 with the political situation in Armenia in April.

This decision was definitely not accepted by the people. And that’s natural. Perhaps time is needed for the society to get used to the new holiday, to make it its own. Many are of the opinion that there was no need to set such a day. “If Armenia is a prosperous, legal country, where a person really feels like the owner of the land, every day will be a holiday for him,” this is how people against the Citizen’s Day judge, at the same time considering the huge expenses related to the implementation of the events as unnecessary. Although the issue of large and small costs is relative. For example, referring to the amount of money allocated for the celebrations, Echmiadzin Mayor Diana Gasparyan noted that it is not such a big amount if we divide it among the regions of Armenia. “A citizen who was able to dictate his will in a peaceful way has the right to celebrate his holiday,” the mayor expressed his opinion. Undoubtedly, regarding the earned right, honorable Diana is absolutely right, but she ignores an important circumstance. well, what did that proud citizen who “dictated his will peacefully” get in the end? Pragmatically speaking, you can say nothing, and in general, disappointment. It’s sad, but this is the reality.

People’s views, as in many other matters, are diametrically different. Gas technologist Karen Kocharyan does not see any problem with the money to be spent for the holiday. “It’s a holiday, it’s a state, I’m sorry, isn’t it a homeless shelter… Recently, Armenians like to celebrate mourning days more lavishly than holidays,” said Kocharyan. All this, according to him, is related to the low educational level of the society. It is difficult to agree with this argument of the technologist, because the factor of educational level does not seem to play a big role here. For example, one can hardly doubt the educational level of Artur Ghazinyan, head of the European Studies Center, candidate of law, but the latter also suggests on his Facebook page to dedicate one of the days of the month to the memory of those who died in the April war. The parents of the servicemen who died in the Four-Day War, who were very upset with the decision to establish Citizen’s Day, expressed a similar desire. “You celebrate the last day of April as Citizen’s Day, gentlemen leaders, and for 7 months we have asked you to give one day in April to our heroic boys as a day of remembrance. It’s because of them that day exists and we exist, didn’t you find it worthy to dedicate a day to our sons, those boys who dedicated all the remaining days of their lives to you,” wrote Marine Hakobyan, the mother of the hero who died in the April war, on her Facebook page.

Of course, it is impossible to take any action or make a decision that will satisfy everyone indiscriminately. However, there are sensitive issues, the solution of which should be dealt with extremely carefully in order not to offend the feelings of other citizens of the country.

Gevorg Lalayan commented

 

May 1 is the International Day of Labor and Workers’ Solidarity. The Communist Party of Armenia started the traditional May Day march from the area adjacent to Saryan’s statue and marched to the square of prominent communist Stepan Shahumyan. The festive parades were led by Yerjanik Ghazaryan, acting first secretary of the Communist Party Central Committee, and Vazgen Safaryan, head of the Progressive United Communist Party. Parallel to the event of the two Communist parties was the march of the Confederation of Trade Unions with the slogan “Decent work, equal pay”. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Armen Sargsyan sent congratulatory messages on the occasion of the International Day of Labor and Workers’ Solidarity.

On April 30, Armenian Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan participated in the regular session of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states in Bishkek. In a narrow framework, the heads of the defense departments discussed the issues of international and regional security, particularly collective security in the Central Asian region and the implementation of additional measures aimed at reducing tension on the Tajik-Afghan border.

 

The crisis in Venezuela. Maduro claims the coup attempt has been foiled 

The New York Times reports that clashes broke out between anti-government protesters and law enforcement in Caracas after Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, along with soldiers at a military base, called on the population to rise up against President Nicolas Maduro.

The BBC reports that Guaido, who has declared himself interim president, has called for more troops to help end Maduro’s “seizure” of power. But the armed forces support Maduro, despite the fact that dozens of countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States and various Latin American countries, recognize Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader. According to the news agency, some photos taken from Caracas show some soldiers supporting Guaido. “Maduro’s naysayers hope the military will reconsider its allegiance to Maduro because of currency devaluation, discontent is growing due to power outages, lack of food and medicine,” reports the BBC.

According to The Guardian, Nicolás Maduro claims his troops “thwarted an attempted coup in Venezuela led by Donald Trump’s separatist imperialist group.” Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to the newspaper, announced that the US is considering the possibility of military operations “if necessary”.

According to Foxnews, Pompeo, who previously stated that Maduro was on the verge of fleeing to Cuba, said that the United States would prefer a peaceful transfer of power in Venezuela, but was ready to consider military intervention as well. According to the news outlet, Guaido insisted that a “peaceful uprising” was being attempted, not a military coup, and called on supporters to return to the streets to continue what he called “Operation Freedom”. According to him, Venezuelans have the opportunity to “conquer their future” and that the march will be the biggest in the country’s history.

Prepared by Marina Muradyan