Thursday, April 6, 2023
Armenia Set To Join U.S.-Led Military Drills
POLAND - U.S., Polish and French soldiers stand near their armoured vehicles
during Defender Europe 2022 military exercise of NATO troops at the military
range in Bemowo Piskie, May 24, 2022.
Amid its deepening rift with Russia, Armenia appears to have decided to
participate in a U.S.-led military exercise in Europe that will start later this
month.
The U.S. Department of Defense listed Armenia among 26 countries whose troops
will take part in the Defender 23 exercise designed to “deter those who would
threaten the peace of Europe and defend the continent from aggression.”
“This annual, nearly two-month long exercise is focused on the strategic
deployment of U.S.-based forces, employment of Army pre-positioned stocks and
interoperability with European allies and partners,” Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon
spokeswoman, told reporters late on Wednesday.
“Approximately 9,000 U.S. troops and about 17,000 troops from 26 allied and
partner nations will participate and portions of the exercise will stretch
across 10 different European countries,” Singh said.
All of those nations except Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Kosovo are members of
NATO.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Armenian military did not confirm what would be
its first-ever participation in those war games.
It was reportedly close to sending troops to the U.S.-led drills held in 2021
but opted out of them at the last minute. The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said
at the time that Armenian soldiers join only those NATO drills that simulate
international peacekeeping operations and train military personnel for them.
Germany - Armenian soldiers participate in military exercises in Hohenfels,
April 2016
Armenia’s relations with Russia, its traditional ally, and the Collective
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have deteriorated in recent months due to
what Yerevan sees as a lack of support from its allies in the conflict with
Azerbaijan.
Earlier this year, the Armenian government cancelled a CSTO military exercise
planned in Armenia and refused to appoint a deputy secretary-general of the
Russian-led military alliance It also rejected other CSTO member states’ offer
to deploy a monitoring mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
The unprecedented tensions have called into question Armenia’s continued
membership in the CSTO. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian claimed on March 16 that
it is the CSTO that could “leave Armenia.” A Russian Foreign Ministry
spokeswoman laughed off that remark.
A senior Russian diplomat said last week that Moscow hopes to end the South
Caucasus country’s growing estrangement from its CSTO allies.
Tensions between Russia and NATO have escalated dramatically since the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin said recently that the U.S.-led alliance is
increasingly “hostile” to Russia and more and more involved in the war in
Ukraine.
Armenian Speaker Apologizes For Spitting At Heckler
Armenia - Parliament speaker Alen SImonian chairs a session of the National
Assembly, November 24, 2022.
Facing a chorus of condemnation, parliament speaker Alen Simonian apologized on
Thursday to “all citizens of Armenia” for spitting at an opposition activist who
branded him a “traitor.”
“I'm sorry that I lost my cool because of the personal insult directed at me,”
Simonian said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“In connection with this incident, I want to apologize to all CITIZENS of the
Republic of Armenia,” he wrote.
Garen Megerdichian, the Canadian-Armenian activist who shouted the insult at
Simonian on Sunday, is reportedly not an Armenian citizen, meaning that the
speaker’s apology may not have been addressed to him.
Megerdichian says that Simonian ordered his bodyguards to overpower him and then
spat in his face at a popular dining area of central Yerevan.
Simonian, who is also a senior member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil
Contract party, has not denied spitting at Megerdichian. He was unrepentant
about his behavior until the apology, saying that he was gravely insulted and
responded accordingly.
Armenian opposition leaders have strongly condemned Simonian. Former President
Levon Ter-Petrosian said on Tuesday that he must be ousted for his “unforgivable
deed.”
Several civic groups added their voice to the condemnations on Wednesday. One of
them also demanded that prosecutors open a “hooliganism” case against Simonian
and investigate the legality of Megerdichian’s brief detention by police.
As of Thursday afternoon, Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General did not
respond to the “crime report” submitted by the Union of Informed Citizens.
Neither Pashinian nor his party’s governing board has criticized Simonian over
the incident.
Simonian, 43, is no stranger to controversy. In late 2021, he made disparaging
comments about Armenian soldiers taken prisoner during the 2020 war with
Azerbaijan, angering their families. Last year, Simonian defended his mother
after she was caught on camera spitting at opposition protesters and showing the
middle finger to them from the balcony of her Yerevan apartment.
Pashinian Clings To Caution After Fresh Azeri Territorial Gains
A new Azerbaijani army position outside the Armenian village of Tegh, March 31,
2023.
Armenia should continue to exercise caution and avoid another escalation even
after Azerbaijan’s occupation last week of more Armenian territory, Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday.
Azerbaijani army units redeployed on March 30 to more parts of the Lachin
district sandwiched between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, completing a change in
the route of the Lachin corridor which began last August. Armenia’s National
Security Service (NSS) said hours later that they advanced up to 300 meters into
Armenian territory at five locations adjacent to the border village of Tegh.
Local government officials and farmers said Tegh lost a large part of its
agricultural land and pastures. Some of them said the Azerbaijani military made
bigger territorial gains than is admitted by official Yerevan.
The NSS claimed on April 1 that the situation in that border area “improved
significantly” as a result of negotiations held by Armenian and Azerbaijani
officials. Tegh residents countered, however, that the Azerbaijani troops did
not retreat from any of their newly occupied positions.
Pashinian insisted that “the situation has somewhat improved.” Only a
5-kilometer section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the area has not been
“ascertained” yet, he said, adding that the two sides are continuing to
negotiate.
“Our intent has been and continues to be to avoid escalating the situation,”
Pashinian said during a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a cabinet meeting, March
16, 2023.
“Dear people, in this volatile and uncertain global environment, we need strong
nerves and restraint in order not to succumb to forces interested in detonating
the regional situation,” he went on. “Despite all the difficulties, the
government of the Republic of Armenia tirelessly reaffirms its commitment to the
peace agenda.”
Pashinian appealed to Armenians amid a continuing uproar caused by the
Azerbaijani troop movements. The Armenian opposition has accused his
administration of doing nothing to prevent the loss of yet another part of
Armenia’s internationally recognized territory.
Opposition leaders say that the Armenian army should have taken up positions
along the Armenian side of the border section ahead of the Azerbaijani advance.
They say that instead of issuing such an order Pashinian declared on March 30
that from now on the Tegh area will be patrolled and protected by NSS border
guards, rather than army units.
Pashinian’s political opponents also blamed him for much bigger territorial
losses suffered by Armenia during border clashes with Azerbaijan in May 2021 and
September 2022. They regularly charge that he cannot defend the country and
rebuild its armed forces after mishandling the disastrous 2020 war in Karabakh.
Russian Ban On Dairy Imports From Armenia Takes Effect
• Naira Bulghadarian
Russia - A customer shops for dairy at an Auchan hypermarket in Novosibirsk,
April 7, 2022.
Russia formally banned on Wednesday imports of dairy products from Armenia amid
rising tensions between the two allied countries.
The Russian government’s Rosselkhoznadzor agriculture watchdog signaled such a
measure last week, saying that Armenian dairy companies use Iranian raw
materials banned in Russia. It said that Russia risks importing “low-quality and
unsafe products” also because of a lack of “proper oversight” by relevant
Armenian authorities.
A spokeswoman Armenia’s Food Safety Inspectorate (FSI) insisted that the Iranian
raw materials are safe for consumption.
The ban took effect on Wednesday despite what the FSI described as continuing
negotiations between the two sides. The government agency gave no details.
Khachatur Poghosian, the head of the Armenian Union of Dairy Producers, said
that the Russian customs service began enforcing the ban even before its
official entry into force. Armenian trucks laden with butter and other dairy
items were turned away from a Russian-Georgian border checkpoint earlier this
week, he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Rosselkhoznadzor issued its first warning to the authorities in Yerevan four
days Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for parliamentary
ratification of the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty. The ruling
in turn came one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian
President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in
Ukraine.
Moscow warned on March 27 that recognition of The Hague tribunal’s jurisdiction
would have “extremely negative” consequences for Russian-Armenian relations.
Those relations have deteriorated in recent months due to what Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian’s administration sees as a lack of Russian support for Armenia
in the conflict with Azerbaijan.
Armenia - A cattle farm in the Vayots Dzor province, 29May2015.
Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian told reporters last week that he does
not think Rosselkhoznadzor’s actions are politically motivated.
Suren Parsian, an economic analyst, suggested that there might be both political
and sanitary reasons for them. He said the Russian watchdog last year examined
Iranian milk imported by Armenian manufacturers and concluded that it does not
meet safety standards set by the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.
“The thing is that the Russian side repeatedly sent complains and the Armenian
government simply ignored them,” said Parsian.
The likely economic cost of the Russian ban is not yet clear. Government data
shows that Armenia exported 9,500 tons of dairy products (mostly butter) to
Russia in 2021 and 2022.
According to Parsian, increased use of Iranian milk has turned Armenia into a
net exporter of butter. Local butter exporters earned $18 million during the
two-year period.
Dairy products make up a small share of overall Armenian exports to Russia which
nearly tripled, to $2.4 billion, last year as a consequence of Western economic
sanctions against Moscow.
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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