Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Armenia Hires Lobbying Firm For ‘Strategic’ Talks With U.S.
• Sargis Harutyunyan
U.S. -- Former U.S. Senator Bob Dole salutes before the flag-draped coffin of
former U.S. President George H. W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol rotunda in
Washington, December 4, 2018
The Armenian government confirmed on Wednesday that it has hired a
Washington-based lobbying firm ahead of fresh negotiations with U.S. officials
which it hopes will boost U.S.-Armenian relations.
Lobbying records in Washington revealed last week a one-month contract between
the government and the Alston & Bird law firm worth $10,000. It was signed on
September 15 by Armenian Ambassador to the United States Varuzhan Nersesyan and
Bob Dole, a former pro-Armenian U.S. senator who now works as a special counsel
at Alston & Bird.
“We will assist the Republic of Armenia in its efforts to build on the strategic
partnership with the United States in advance of planned diplomatic talks in
October of 2020,” the 97-year-old Dole said in a letter to Nersesyan.
“During the course of this engagement, Alston & Bird will monitor current events
relevant to US-Armenia relations and provide strategic counsel with respect to
improvement of that relationship,” he wrote. “These services may include
outreach to United States Government officials as well as Members of Congress
and their staffs.”
The lobbying firm will help Yerevan prepare for the final round of the
U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue which will take place in Washington next month.
The Armenian delegation is expected to be headed by Foreign Minister Zohrab
Mnatsakanian.
“The format and level of the final meeting is still being discussed,” said
Armella Shakarian, head of the U.S. and Canada desk at the Armenian Foreign
Ministry. It should be ascertained over the next week, she said.
Armenia - Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian (R) and U.S. Deputy Assistant
Secretary of State George Kent are about to sign an agreement after the first
session of the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialouge in Yerevan, May 7, 2019.
The first session of the “strategic dialogue” was held in Yerevan in May 2019.
Senior U.S. and Armenian officials discussed a wide range of issues and pledged
to strive for closer bilateral ties. The two sides held two more sessions via a
video link earlier this month.
Shakarian said that the dialogue has widened the scope of issues on the agenda
of U.S.-Armenian cooperation. “We expect the implementation of more far-reaching
projects and the development of economic ties with the United States,” she told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The official added that defense and security issues are also on the agenda of
the dialogue. “We are discussing ways of deepening relations in these areas,”
she said.
U.S. officials promised greater financial assistance to Armenia following the
May 2019 talks. Washington increased that assistance by 40 percent, to over $60
million, last year to support the implementation of the Armenian government’s
ambitious reform agenda.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised the government’s declared efforts to
root out corruption, strengthen the rule of law and improve the domestic
business environment when he congratulated Armenia on its Independence Day on
Monday.
Armenian Opposition To Demand Snap Elections
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Ishkhan Saghatelian, a leader of the opposition Armenian
Revolutionary Federation, at a news conference in Yerevan, April 30, 2019.
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and two other opposition
parties will demand the holding of fresh general elections at their first joint
rally scheduled for October 8, a Dashnaktsutyun leader said on Wednesday.
Dashnaktsutyun, the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) and Hayrenik Party announced
their decision to rally supporters in Yerevan’s Liberty Square on Tuesday. In a
joint statement, they denounced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his cabinet
and cited “the need for the formation of a new kind of national government.”
“The main demand is pre-term parliamentary elections and that requires the prime
minister’s resignation,” Dashnaktsutyun’s Ishkhan Saghatelian told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service. “Other details will be voiced at the rally.”
Just hours after the three parties made the announcement, it emerged that a
court in Yerevan scheduled for Wednesday a hearing on the pre-trial arrest of
the BHK’s indicted leader Gagik Tsarukian sought by prosecutors. Tsarukian and
his lawyers did not show up for the hearing, leading the court to postpone it
until Friday.
Alen Simonian, a senior lawmaker from the ruling My Step bloc, claimed that the
planned rally is aimed at helping Tsarukian avoid arrest on vote buying charges
strongly denied by him.
Saghatelian categorically denied such a connection. “We are saying the opposite:
that these authorities keep trying to silence their political opponents through
criminal cases and persecution,” he said.
The Dashnaktsutyun leader insisted that the rally will take place as planned
even if Tsarukian is arrested. “We hope that the authorities will not opt for
that,” he said.
The three parties agreed in June to work together in challenging the government
shortly after Tsarukian was stripped of his parliamentary immunity from
prosecution and charged with bribing voters ahead of 2017 parliamentary
elections. The BHK leader, who is one of Armenia’s richest men, rejects the
accusations as politically motivated.
With 8.3 percent of the vote, Tsarukian’s party came in a distant second in the
last general elections held in December 2018 and widely recognized as
democratic. Dashnaktsutyun got only 3.9 percent, failing to win any parliament
seats.
Dashnaktsutyun and the BHK had for years been represented in former President
Serzh Sarkisian’s government toppled during the 2018 “Velvet Revolution.” They
joined Pashinian’s first cabinet formed in May 2018 but were ousted from it five
months later when the prime minister accused them of secretly collaborating with
the former ruling Republican Party.
The third opposition party, Hayrenik, was set up early this year by Artur
Vanetsian, the former head of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS).
Vanetsian fell out with Pashinian and resigned as NSS director in September 2019.
China Opens New Embassy Complex In Armenia
Armenia -- Chinese Ambassador Tian Erlong (R) shows Armenian President Armen
Sarkissian around China's newly built embassy complex in Yerevan, September 23,
2020.
President Armen Sarkissian visited China’s new and sprawling embassy complex in
Armenia on Wednesday, saying that its construction highlights Beijing’s desire
to deepen Chinese-Armenian relations.
Work on the Chinese Embassy’s new building and adjacent facilities in Yerevan
began three years ago. Officials said at the time that it will be China’s second
largest diplomatic mission in the former Soviet Union.
“You are the first and most honorable guest of our new embassy,” Chinese
Ambassador Tian Erlong told Sarkissian before showing him around the
40,000-square-meter compound.
Sarkissian toured the compound ahead of China’s National Day that will be marked
on October 1. He congratulated Tian and other Yerevan-based Chinese diplomats on
the upcoming holiday.
“I think China can be proud of such presence,” the president told the envoy at
an ensuing meeting. “We regard this [new embassy complex] as China’s bid to
deepen Chinese-Armenian relations and elevate them to a higher level.”
Armenia -- Armenian President Armen Sarkissian (R) visits China's newly built
embassy complex in Yerevan, .
“Despite their different size, Armenia and China have many similarities: they
both are global nations in a certain sense,” he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping praised bilateral ties when he congratulated
Sarkissian on the 29th anniversary of Armenia’s declaration of independence on
Monday. He said Beijing and Yerevan support each other in the international
arena on “issues which are vital for the interests of the two countries.”
“I attach great importance to the development of the Chinese-Armenia relations
and I am ready to make, together with you, joint efforts to elevate our
multifaceted cooperation to a new level,” Xi wrote in a congratulatory message.
Xi reaffirmed China’s desire to deepen political, economic and cultural ties
with Armenia when he met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Beijing in May
2019. “Constructive and productive relations with China are very important for
us,” Pashinian said, for his part.
China -- Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian in Beijing, May 14, 2019.
In August 2018, Pashinian attended the inauguration of a new school in Yerevan
built by the Chinese government. He said that having many Chinese speakers is an
“economic necessity” for Armenia.
China is Armenia’s second largest trading partner after Russia. According to
official Armenian statistics, Chinese-Armenian trade totaled $405 million in the
first half of this year.
Sarkissian called on Wednesday for closer commercial ties between Armenian and
Chinese high-tech companies. “I would be very happy to make my modest
contribution to the development of Chinese-Armenian economic relations in the
area of high technology,” he said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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