Author: Mary Lazarian

 15:35,

YEREVAN, APRIL 30, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian had a video talk today with President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, the Armenian President’s Office told Armenpress.

During the talk the Armenian and Lithuanian Presidents exchanged views on the situation in the two countries caused by the novel coronavirus, as well as the actions taken to prevent and overcome the disease. The officials in particular discussed the measures aimed at eliminating the economic consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The sides highlighted the cooperation of the two countries in fighting the pandemic. In this context President Armen Sarkissian highly valued the humanitarian aid provided by the Lithuanian government to Armenia as an assistance to fighting the coronavirus. President Sarkissian attached importance to Lithuania’s constant support to the Armenia-EU partnership, highlighting new cooperation opportunities within the frames of the Eastern Partnership.

Armen Sarkissian said he is holding regular video talks with his foreign counterparts to get informed what actions are being taken and which ones are the most effective. “In this situation ensuring the protection of hospitals and medical staff is of particular importance”, he said.

The two Presidents reaffirmed their commitment to contribute to the development and further deepening of the Armenian-Lithuanian relations with joint efforts. They stated that the two countries have a serious potential for cooperation both in economic, high-tech, educational and cultural areas.

The Armenian and Lithuanian Presidents agreed to continue exchanging information about the COVID-19 situation and other issues.

In late December 2019, Chinese authorities notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, central China. WHO declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus a global pandemic and named the virus COVID-19. 

According to the data of the World Health Organization, coronavirus cases have been confirmed in more than 210 countries and territories.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 12:39, 17 April, 2020

YEREVAN, APRIL 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenian foreign ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan commented on Azerbaijan’s reaction to the recent elections held in Artsakh, the MFA told Armenpress.

Armenpress presents the MFA spokeswoman’s full comment:

Question: The election process in Artsakh, which lasted from March 31 to April 14 and was concluded with the election of a new president and parliament, as expected,  received a negative reaction from Azerbaijan. How would you comment on that reaction?

Answer: Through several statements the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has already expressed its position on the elections held in Artsakh.

In this regard, I would like to only emphasize two circumstances. First, in the context of the Artsakh elections, the highest authorities of Azerbaijan have made very critical comments towards the European human rights institutions. Indeed, this was not accidental. It should be recalled that the European human rights institutions made an important assessment on the parliamentary elections held in Azerbaijan this February by which the low level of legitimacy of those elections was revealed.

It is obvious that in a country where the power has never been transferred through democratic process, the formation of new authorities in Artsakh through competitive and democratic elections should have triggered a nervous reaction.

Second, Azerbaijan tries to involve the international community in its campaign against human rights in Artsakh. To that end, Azerbaijan doesn’t refrain from strictly selective and distorted presentation of international reactions to these elections.

Azerbaijan attempts to ignore the key messages of the same reactions, which refer to the role of the people of Artsakh in determining their future, and the importance of elections from the perspective of organizing public life in Artsakh. Meanwhile, these messages are crucial for creating an environment conducive to advancement of the peace process.

In our region, the formation of authorities who received the vote of the people, who express the will of people and who are accountable before those people, is extremely important in terms of the transformation of conflict and the reconciliation of peoples. The people of Artsakh took another important step in this direction on March 31 and April 14”.

 11:32,

YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. The Office of the President of Armenia adopted new approaches for social assistance taking into account the current novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

At the instruction of President Armen Sarkissian, the Office these days is paying special attention to the most vulnerable and socially needy groups, living in bordering and remote communities, as well as affected by earthquake.

The program beneficiaries have been selected based on the President’s communication with the residents during his visit to provinces, as well as the letters sent to the President and their analysis.

The assistance program will be implemented in stages. The current stage involves a total of 200 beneficiaries from various social groups. At this moment a priority is given to children of remote communities who do not have an opportunity for remote learning, as well as to large families and elderly people.

At this stage of the program assistance has been provided to the children of socially needy families living in Shirak and Tavush provinces.

The next group are the children of needy families or killed servicemen, living in bordering communities of Tavush province.

The program also includes several large families from Yerevan, as well as from Ararat, Armavir, Syunik, Tavush and Kotayk provinces, who have 6-14 aged children. All beneficiaries have been provided with essentials and food.

Computers have been provided to the children of needy families and families of fallen soldiers in Chinari, Nerkin Karmiraghbyur, Movses, Choratan, Aygepar communities of Tavush province.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 13:06,

YEREVAN, APRIL 10, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed readiness to host the regular session of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Council in Armenia in autumn, the PM said this during the Council’s video conference on April 10.

“Armenia is ready to host the regular session of the Inter-Governmental Council this autumn. We hope the pandemic will already be overcome before the session”, the PM said.

The session of the Eurasian Inter-Governmental Council, scheduled to take place in Minsk, is currently being held via a video conference due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally has surpassed 1,608.000. 95,837 people have died from the virus so far.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan