Category: News

Manchester United only need a point against Zorya Luhansk to qualify for the last 32 of the Europa League but Henrikh Mkhitaryan insists the Reds will be playing to win in Ukraine on Thursday night.

Mkhitaryan could be involved for the Reds at Odessa’s Chornomorets Stadium, the venue where he scored a hat-trick while playing for Shakhtar Donetsk in August 2012.

And the Armenian feels that approaching the final Group A clash with the right mindset could have a positive knock-on effect for the subsequent Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.

“We are not going to play for a draw,” he told . “It would be good to win before the game against Tottenham – good for our mentality, good for the atmosphere in the dressing room. We will try to win and be ready for the next game as well.

“But it’s not going to be easy. Our opponent defends very well and plays with counter-attacks. The quality of the pitch might also have a role. We have to be ready for all kinds of situations and fight until the end.”

Mkhitaryan’s encouraging recent form, which yielded two Man of the Match awards at Old Trafford inside a week, has been warmly welcomed by United’s fans.

“I’m thankful to the United supporters,” the 27-year-old added. “I have felt their support and I can only pay them back by playing good, scoring goals and assisting.”

The Armenian National Assembly voted 83 to 24 with one abstention today to approve State Budget for FY2017.

Speaking before the voting, MPs from Prosperous Armenia and the Armenian National Congress said the factions would vote against the bill.

MP Tigran Urikhanyan also urged lawmakers to vote against the draft.

Head of the Orinats Yerkir faction Heghine Bisharyan said they would vote against the bill because of “lack of progress and expectations for the citizens of the republic.”

The Republican Party and the Armenian revolutionary Federation backed the bill.

The State Budget 2017 envisages revenues amounting to 1 trillion 210 billion AMD. The expenditures will be maintained at the level of around 1 trillion 360 billion AMD. The budget deficit will make approximately 150 billion 150 million AMD.

On 8 December President Bako Sahakyan signed a decree appointing Masis Mayilyan Ambassador at large conferring him the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, NKR President’s Press Office reports.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian had a meeting with OSCE Chairman-in-Office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Water Steinmeier on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Hamburg.

The parties exchanged views on the activity of the OSCE and referred to issues on the agenda of the OSCE Ministerial Council.

Minister Nalbandian hailed the support of the German presidency to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chais’ efforts towards the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

Edward Nalbandian called Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s attention to the fact that Azerbaijan refuses to implement the agreements reached the Vienna and St. Petersburg summits and keeps aggravating the situation at the line of contact.

On December 8, 2016, in accordance with the arrangement reached with the authorities of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, the OSCE Mission conducted a planned monitoring of the Line of Contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the direction of the NKR Askeran region, north-east of Kengerli settlement.

From the positions of the NKR Defense Army, the monitoring was conducted by Field Assistants to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova) and Khristo Khristov (Bulgaria).

From the opposite side of the Line of Contact, the monitoring was conducted by Personal Assistant to the CiO Personal Representative Simon Tiller (Great Britain), Field Assistant to the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Jiri Aberle (Czech Republic), and staff member of the Office Peter Svedberg (Sweden).

The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule. No violation of the cease-fire regime was registered. However, the Azerbaijani side did not lead the OSCE mission to its front-lines.

From the Karabakh side, the monitoring mission was accompanied by representatives of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Defense.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has handed in his resignation to Italy’s president, three days after losing a referendum he had staked his career on, the BBC reports.

He had promised to wait until the Senate passed the 2017 budget, which it did earlier in the day.

President Sergio Mattarella will start consultations with political parties over forming a caretaker government at 18:00 (17:00 GMT) on Thursday.

In the meantime, Mr Renzi is to act as a “caretaker prime minister”.

The consultation, which is due to end on Saturday afternoon, will look at where support lies for a new government, a presidential aide, Ugo Zampetti, told reporters on Wednesday.

Lusine Avanesyan
Public Radio of Armenia
Stepanakert

Artsakh authorities take responsibility for all monuments on the territory of the republic irrespective of their religious status. The plans to renovate the Upper Mosque in Shushi (built in 1883) come to prove the commitment.

The NKR Ministry of Economy and the Iranian Part Saman Jahan Company have signed the protocol on cost estimation of reconstruction works.

The Foundation for the Revival of Oriental Historical Legacy has undertaken to find funds for the renovation.

The Part Saman Jahan has already conducted research on the history of Shushi and the mosque itself, Director of the Company Saeid Nahavandi said. “We are far from politics and have approached the issue exceptionally from the professional perspective,” he said.

According to NKR Deputy Minister of Economy Sergey Shahverdyan, It’s not yet clear whether the monument will serve as a mosque or will be rebuilt as a museum.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian participated in a meeting of the CSTO Foreign Ministers held on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in Hamburg.

The Ministers discussed the process of implementation of the decisions made at the CSTO session held in Yerevan in October 2016.

During the meeting the participants exchanged views on issues on the agenda of the OSCE Ministerial Council. Reference was made to the global and regional challenges, countering terrorism, the processes in the Middle East, namely Syria.

The CSTO Foreign Ministers discussed the process of preparation for the CSTO Security Council meeting to be held in Saint Petersburg later in this month. They also exchanged views on the activity of the CSTO statutory bodies.

“President Obama and his Administration, as have past administrations, have repeatedly mourned and acknowledged that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred or marched to their deaths in the final days of the Ottoman Empire,” Spokesperson for the US Department of State Mark Toner told a daily briefing.

“We also called for a full and frank acknowledgement of the facts of what happened around those deaths. And that remains our policy. I don’t want to get into terminology or how we referred to it. We acknowledged that 1.5 million Armenians were massacred, as I said, and we want to see a full historical accounting of those events,” the Spokesman said.

The comments come after UN Ambassador at an event honoring the Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel’s life and work.

Statement by Edward Nalbandian, Foreign Minister of Armenia at the Open Government Partnership Summit 2016

Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Armenia thanks the Government of France for its efforts towards advancing the agenda of Open Government Partnership (OGP) and for the extended hospitality. Our appreciation also goes to the civil society Co-Chair – the World Resources Institute. The Summit is an opportunity to galvanize our engagement in OGP initiative promoting fundamental values necessary for the inclusive and sustainable development of our societies.

Between 2011 and 2016, in line with two Action Plans Armenia implemented tangible reforms in major sectors such as the law-making activities, public procurement, access to and freedom of information, healthcare, education, local self-governance, mining industry. Through the implementation of more than 20 commitments targeted actions have been undertaken to meet main OGP challenges on improving public services, ensuring effective management of public resources, promotion of public confidence.

The cutting-edge tools, such as crowdsourcing and co-design were widely used in the drafting process of Armenia’s Open government partnership Third Action Plan (2016-2018). Government officials came together with Civil Society Organizations, experts and private sector partners to discuss and elaborate the suggested action plan commitments.

Most of the declared Summit priorities including on transparency and anti-corruption, sustainable development and climate change are included in our new Action Plan. Armenia joined other states in singing Paris Agreement on climate change. The Government of Armenia provided its final national progress report on the Millennium Development Goals. The roadmap for national implementation the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has been drafted. All these processes have been done in an inclusive manner based on multi-stakeholder public discussions.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Armenia continues its efforts aimed at consolidating democratic institutions, strengthening the rule of law, national mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights and in this regard sustains strong partnership with the international organizations and initiatives. Last December by the nation-wide referendum Armenia adopted amendments to the Constitution aimed at improving the governance system with increased transparency and accountability. It was followed by the adoption of a new Electoral Code to meet the necessary legal changes in line with the requirements of the amended Constitution. It is noteworthy that both the Constitutional reform and the new Electoral Code have received positive feedbacks from our international partner organizations. To further strengthen the public trust in the election process the Government accepted the proposal coming from the opposition and the discussions on the draft Code were held with the involvement of all parliamentary political factions and civil society representatives.

In Armenia, we have vibrant civil society, which is an indicator of our growing democracy, and an integral part of Armenia’s public life with increasing participation in and contribution to the effective governance. The presence of our Civil Society Organizations among Summit participants, including among members of our OGP National Working Group, is the best illustration for that.

It is noteworthy that at the last global summit of Open Government Partnership, Armenia received a top award and was recognized as a leader in our region for increased efficiency in the activities of its local self-governance authorities and improved public services based on the principles of open governance. Our Civil Society Organizations awarded the Armenian government for advancing freedom of information and joining the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are cognizant that challenges remain. Our new Action Plan is aimed at exploring new tools to directly connect to the society, to mainstream the Open Government Partnership principles in all domains of governance, and to apply human-centered approaches in policymaking. With this in mind, we are looking forward to work hand in hand with all partners to achieve the objectives of Open government partnership.

Thank you.