Month: April 2026

The FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029 will take place in Armenia and Georgia, the sport’s governing body announced on Wednesday, after the two countries filed a joint bid in 2024 to co-host the tournament.

“Armenia and Georgia set to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029! This will be the first ever FIFA tournament to be held in either country,” FIFA said in a statement on X.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan hailed the decision as “important news.”

He said on social media that the matches in Armenia will take place in Yerevan, Vanadzor, and Ijevan. “We will soon actively begin preparing to properly host the tournament,” he said.

All necessary infrastructure is being upgraded.

“This is a very important event for all of us. I want to congratulate Georgia, and I want to congratulate all of us in Armenia—football players and fans alike—on this important event and decision,” Pashinyan added.

Armenian Ambassador to the United States Narek Mkrtchyan attended the official reception held at the White House in honor of King Charles III of the United Kingdom and Queen Camilla, the embassy said on social media.

The event featured speeches, after which King Charles III also delivered an address to Congress.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and top officials visited the province of Gegharkunik on Wednesday as part of regular trips across the country to inspect government-funded projects and meet residents.

He was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan, and Gegharkunik Governor Karen Sargsyan. The delegation first stopped in the village of Berdkunk near Lake Sevan, where they attended the opening ceremony of a newly built kindergarten.

Pashinyan posted a video from the ceremony on social media.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that addressing water supply and irrigation challenges will be a top priority for Armenia over the next five years, stressing the need for improved water resource management and wider use of water-saving technologies.

He made the remarks at a meeting with residents of the village of Vardenik during a visit to Gegharkunik province.

“In the next five years, water issues will be a priority for us. To help you understand how important we consider water issues, I will say that just as peace was one of the primary issues in the past five years, water will be one of the priority issues in the next five years. My most painful observation is that there is not a single settlement in the country where there are no water problems. The good news is that we have water resources in our highlands, but we must be able to collect those resources and manage them properly. I should also note that we need to change the way we irrigate fields and orchards. There are water-saving technologies for that as well, and we will stand by our farmers on all these issues,” the prime minister added.

He further noted that in some communities, residents use drinking water for irrigation, which in turn leads to shortages of potable water.

“There must be both drinking and irrigation water everywhere, because if neither exists, the problem is not solved. If there is drinking water but no irrigation water, people will use drinking water for irrigation, and in that case there will not be enough drinking water. It is very simple logic,” Pashinyan said.

Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan has reiterated that the Pashinyan administration maintains constant focus on issues pertaining to the remaining Armenian captives and other detainees held in Azerbaijan.

Avanesyan was asked at a press conference whether she had any information regarding the health condition of the detainees.

“Coordination efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia regarding all issues related to both the health condition and other matters concerning Armenians held in Baku are continuously ongoing. I assure you that these issues remain in the spotlight through both international law and all possible humanitarian channels, under the coordination of our foreign policy department. These efforts do not pause or slow down for a single moment but are constantly in the focus of our government’s attention,” Avanesyan said.

The 19 remaining Armenian captives and detainees in Azerbaijan include former political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh, such as former presidents Arayik Harutyunyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arkady Ghukasyan; former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan; former Defense Minister Levon Mnatsakanyan; and former State Minister Ruben Vardanyan.

The Armenian government has repeatedly stated that it continues efforts to secure the release of the captives and other detainees.

Earlier in February, an Azerbaijani military court sentenced several former top political and military leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh to life imprisonment on war-crime-related charges, which are widely seen as fabricated and part of a sham trial. Vardanyan was sentenced to 20 years. He denounced the trial as a “farce” and denied all charges.

The Juventus Academy Armenia will open its two bases in Yerevan in August this year, while the third base will be located in Nor Hachn, a town some 20 km north of the Armenian capital.

“Starting in September, construction work on the third Juventus training base will begin in the town of Nor Hachn. In August of this year, the opening ceremony of the two Yerevan training bases and a UEFA Category 2 stadium will take place. The academy is designed for 1,500 students,” Juventus Academy Armenia Director Albert Abrahamyan said at a press conference.

The Juventus Academy in Armenia will consist of three training bases, two of which will be located in Yerevan’s Avan administrative district and in the area adjacent to Hrazdan Stadium, while the third will be in the Nor Hachn community of Kotayk Province. The academy will feature infrastructure meeting high international standards, including open and indoor pitches of various sizes.

The academy will operate on both paid and free bases, depending on the children’s progress and performance. Each year, the academy’s best students will travel to Turin, Italy, to the main Juventus Academy, where they will participate in training sessions and friendly matches.

Armenia saw fewer crimes and a higher clearance rate in 2025, according to official data presented by Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan.

Prosecutor General Vardapetyan presented the figures at a parliamentary committee hearing on her annual report.

Citing data from the Crime Statistics and Analysis Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, she said that 40,722 crimes were recorded in Armenia in 2025, compared to 42,057 cases in 2024.

She noted that the number of crimes decreased by 1,335, or 3.2%, over the year. Of the recorded crimes, 18,857 were committed in Yerevan (19,877 in 2024).

The Prosecutor General also said that the crime clearance rate increased.

“In 2025, the clearance rate stood at 29.7%, compared to 22.8% in 2024,” Vardapetyan said at a session of the Parliamentary Committee on State and Legal Affairs, emphasizing that the increase amounted to 6.9 percentage points.

According to her, the overwhelming majority of crimes continue to be minor and medium-severity offenses.

“Of the 40,722 recorded crimes, the absolute majority—82.6%—are minor (20,041 cases, or 49.2%) and medium-severity (13,585 cases, or 33.4%) crimes,” Vardapetyan said.

The Prosecutor General also added that, compared to 2024, the share of serious and most serious offences has decreased from 18.3% to 17.4%, a decline of 0.9 percentage points.

Several individuals have been arrested at the Yerevan office of the “Strong Armenia” party in the Avan administrative district amid an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged vote-buying and violations of restrictions on pre-election charitable activities, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia confirmed.

“We confirm that a group of individuals has been arrested within the framework of a criminal proceeding initiated on the grounds of vote-buying and violation of restrictions on charitable activities. Additional information will be provided later if necessary,” the committee said.

Other details were not immediately available.

The “Strong Armenia” party is led by business tycoon Samvel Karapetyan and intends to run in the June 7 parliamentary elections.

President of the Football Federation of Armenia (FFA) Armen Melikbekyan and his Georgian counterpart Levan Kobiashvili met with Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA.

According to the FFA readout, the presidents of the Football Federations of Armenia and Georgia noted that hosting the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029 is “both a great honor and a significant responsibility.”

The heads of the two countries’ football governing bodies expressed their deep gratitude to the FIFA football family for the high level of trust shown toward Armenia and Georgia. During the meeting, the parties reaffirmed their full readiness to unite all their resources and efforts to organize a top-level football tournament. Armen Melikbekyan and Levan Kobiashvili emphasized that both countries are determined to turn the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029 into a true football celebration, distinguished by high-quality organization and a unique atmosphere of hospitality.

FIFA confirmed on Wednesday that Armenia and Georgia will host the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2029.

The two countries submitted a joint bid in 2024 to co-host the tournament.