Category: 2017

Each state included in the framework of the Eastern Partnership has its own interests and direction. This was announced at the opening of the plenary session of the Euronest PA, during the discussion on the future of the Eastern Partnership and Armenia-EU relations, the chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, the head of the RA NA delegation to the Euronest PA, Armen Ashotyan.

In this context, Armen Ashotyan emphasized the formation of a new legal framework for RA-EU cooperation and the signing of the new RA-EU Comprehensive and Expanded Joint Protocol at the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit. He also expressed hope for recording positive results related to the process of visa liberalization in the near future.

In his speech, Armen Ashotyan also emphasized the effective service of the Eastern Partnership platform to the interests of the citizens of the Eastern Partnership countries.

Referring to the existing differences between the member countries of the Eastern Partnership, Ashotyan emphasized the definition of such values ​​that will be common and acceptable for all the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

Ashotyan also referred to the existing conflicts in the countries of the Eastern Partnership and noted that Euronest is not a platform for conflict resolution, but it can be considered as a unique means for the development of political dialogue between the conflicting states, particularly Armenia and Azerbaijan. In this context, he emphasized the fact that the Assembly in its ongoing work in Kyiv was able to emphasize and record the important fact that all the conflicts in the countries of the Eastern Partnership are different, the Nagorno Karabakh conflict does not have a military solution, and the settlement of the problem is based on the fundamental principles of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Helsinki Final Act. Armen Ashotyan highlighted the fact that the Assembly reaffirmed its support for the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.

The Armenian official also emphasized the fact that the Eastern Partnership is not and cannot be an agreement and document circulation on paper, it is a platform for fulfilling the expectations of the citizens of the Eastern Partnership countries, making the implementation of reforms and daily consistent work the basis and goal of the activity.

At the end of the speech, Armen Ashotyan noted that in connection with the signing of the new RA-EU Comprehensive and Expanded Agreement within the framework of the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit, Armenia will become the first country in this new legal framework to be a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and at the same time have a legally binding agreement with the European Union. In this context, he noted that the signing of the agreement will be a reference to the international community that the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union should not be parties to the conflict, and Armenia in this case can be a link between the two associations. for the unification of various economic and political efforts.

Ruzanna Khachatryan, the wife of former Minister of Defense of RA Seyran Ohanyan, made another post on her Facebook page, continuing to remotely point fingers at the official who escaped from the army.

In another post, Khachatryan “exposes” the official with sayings. 

“The official who kept his office documents intact and suffered a severe cranial injury due to the incorrect use of the pen and ink recoil.

…There are trench truths and “cabinet klyauzas”…

…A soldier stages a military parade, an office worker – an actor’s “theatre”…

…For someone who works in an office, the border of the homeland is the door of his office…

…The ditch keeper recovered from a serious injury, the “cabinetchik” died from the Facebook post…

…The officer who passed through the war trench will not betray his people and the Motherland…

P.S. To my former patient (current official):  A stinking mouth is cured, a stinking soul NEVER…”

To remind, the RA Defense Minister’s spokesperson responded to Ruzanna Khachatryan’s controversial notes Artsrun Hovhannisyan: And a member of the National Assembly? Nikol Pashinyan had urged a careful study of the facts presented therein. The Ministry of Defense reminded Seyran Ohanyan’s wife about the perjury article.

The Armenian urgent resolution regarding the use of “lethal autonomous weapons” was adopted in the Euronest PA. Armen Ashotyan, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Relations of the RA NA delegation, reports this.

It should be noted that the RA NA delegation is participating in the plenary session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in Kyiv from October 29 to November 1.

Armen Ashotyan from Kyiv reported that an urgent draft of the resolution regulating the use of “Lethal Autonomous Weapons” was prepared and circulated by the parliamentary delegation for the work of the Assembly, which was adopted at the plenary session of the Euronest PA.

The adopted resolution refers to numerous international legal acts and documents, including a letter sent to the United Nations by 116 robotics founders and leading organizations from 26 states regarding the need to urgently respond to the challenges of lethal weapons and the limitations of their international use.

“The resolution presented by the Armenian delegation first of all refers to the use of the latest generation of drones (unmanned aerial vehicles). In this regard, it is necessary to mention the recent precedent of the temporary suspension of the Israeli manufacturer’s license related to the sale and export of arms by the Ministry of Defense of Israel, in connection with the attacks carried out on positions in Nagorno-Karabakh at the urging of Azerbaijan,” reported the head of the delegation, Armen Ashotyan.

With the corresponding clause of the adopted resolution, the Assembly highlights the production and use of autonomous weapons within the framework of international legal norms, condemns the targeted use of autonomous weapons against civilians in conflict zones. Eastern Partnership countries are also called upon to promote transparent and accountable policies regarding the use of killer robots. The resolution also emphasized the introduction of investigative mechanisms in conflict zones with the aim of identifying and preventing such mechanisms that would be aimed at conflict zones. carrying out arbitrary actions against the civilian population living in the surrounding areas.

The Azerbaijani delegation voted against the resolution.

The Investors Club of Armenia will hold a big presentation in Yerevan on November 13. RA President Serzh Sargsyan said this in an interview to “RIA Novosti”.

“The presentation will be about the launch of the investment program (more than one billion dollars). It will mainly be an investment in Armenia’s energy sector, which includes the modernization of the country’s power grid, the construction of a new hydroelectric plant and a new enterprise with the well-known company Schneider Electric, which will produce products for the energy industry. I think that this product will find its consumer in the Russian market as well”, said S. Sargsyan.

In 2018, Armenia will receive 40% more customs allocations within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union. This is stated in the draft of the next state budget, which is currently being discussed in the NA executive committees.  

The Government of the Republic of Armenia expects to receive about 74 billion drams (about $154 million) in 2018, which is 1.22% of the estimated customs duties in the EAEU. As a basis, the forecast of the International Monetary Fund regarding imports to EAEU countries in 2018 was taken into account.

It is noted that the forecasts are positive, taking into account the growth trend of the Russian economy.

The development of the controversial concept of Russian language teaching in Armenia has nothing to do with the country’s membership in the EAEU. RA President Serzh Sargsyan said this in an interview to “Российская газета”.

“It is not related to membership, because Russian has always been treated well in Armenia and it has always been widespread. The economies of Armenia and Russia are connected by a thousand threads, we have very close humanitarian cooperation and knowledge of the language is simply necessary. In Armenia, the teaching of Russian begins in the second grade,” said Serzh Sargsyan, adding that

He noted that there are classes in which the entire educational process is conducted in Russian. Today, the necessary steps are being taken so that the traditions of teaching and spreading the Russian language will be preserved even in the case of the new generation.

“Special attention is paid to the fact that students fully master not only their mother tongue, but also 2-3 foreign languages, including Russian. Therefore, such concepts were developed not only for teaching Russian, but also for teaching other foreign languages,” he said.

According to the RA president, the main emphasis should be placed on the quality of Russian language teaching. Armenia has always been distinguished by its school of Russian language specialists, but Russian, like all languages ​​in general, is a living organism and is constantly developing. Therefore, the president emphasized, efforts should be made to be aware of these changes, apply new teaching methods, often organize appropriate seminars and discussions, both in Armenia and in Russia.

“Nothing will prevent the adoption of this concept. I think it’s a matter of a few months. With the adoption of the concept, no drastic changes will be made, because, I repeat, there has always been a friendly attitude towards Russian in Armenia,” Serzh Sargsyan emphasized.

To remind, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia has presented the “concept of Russian language teaching in educational institutions implementing public education programs of the Republic of Armenia”, which is planned to carry out in-depth teaching of the Russian language in one or another subject area. We are talking about the teaching of some topics from a number of subjects in parallel with Armenian, especially in high school. In response to the uproar, the Ministry of Internal Affairs urges the issue not to be politicized and notes that the same changes apply to other languages ​​as well.