13:01, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Building sustainable peace in South Caucasus is one of the EU’s key objectives, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia Ambassador Vassilis Maragos has said.

In his speech during the opening of the EUMA headquarters in Yeghegnadzor, Ambassador Maragos recalled that during the European Political Community summit in Granada the EU reiterated its condemnation of Azerbaijan’s military operation against the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and stressed the need for respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. “We remain committed to these efforts," Maragos said.

The humanitarian needs of more than 100,000 residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, who’ve found shelter in Armenia, are in the EU's focus, he said.

Ambassador Maragos said that Armenia and the EU are determined to strengthen their relations by working in the direction of fully utilizing the potential of CEPA and the EU Economic and Investments Plan.

"Building sustainable peace in South Caucasus is one of the EU’s key objectives," Ambassador Maragos said.

 14:44, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. The issue of expanding the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) will be discussed in Brussels by year-end, EUMA Head of Mission Markus Ritter has said.

EUMA now includes representatives of 23 countries of the EU.

Ritter told reporters on November 1 that there is a possibility that representatives of all 27 countries will be included in EUMA. He said that there is “a lot of political attention” towards EUMA because of the developments taking place.

"The enlargement is something that also will be discussed in Brussels by the end of the year. We have to wait for the results. But, as it has been said before, at the moment because of the events here in autumn this mission has a lot of political attention," he said.

Last week, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly visited Armenia and announced that Canada will join EUMA, becoming the first country outside the EU to do so.

Ritter said that if other non-EU countries also express desire to join EUMA, then the issue will be discussed in Brussels.

 14:52, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. The situation at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is ‘quite calm’ at the moment, EUMA Head of Mission Markus Ritter said on November 1.

“The situation at the border is at the moment quiet calm. So, our patrols who are out every day don’t see any increased tension at the moment. So, it seems that we obviously have a calm period at the moment,” Ritter told reporters after the opening of the EUMA headquarters in Yeghegnadzor.

 15:27, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. Apple has warned multiple iPhone users in Armenia that they’ve been targeted in attempted state-sponsored espionage attacks, including through Pegasus, the infamous spyware developed by the Israeli cyber-arms company NSO Group designed to be covertly and remotely installed on mobile phones.

Information security expert Samvel Martirosyan said on November 1 that this recent wave of warnings from Apple is the continuation of other cases. There’ve been several waves of similar hacking attacks since the 2020 war unleashed by Azerbaijan, Martirosyan said at a press conference.

“These days, numerous citizens in Armenia are receiving such notifications. The warnings don’t mention who was behind the attack. I can say that most of the studied cases pertain to Pegasus spyware attacks targeting mobile phones. It is a spyware developed by a private Israeli company, which is sold to state agencies of several countries. Reality shows that dictatorships use it against the civil society. The most active user is Azerbaijan. And this case related to Armenia is highly unusual in terms of Azerbaijan factually using this program as a cyberweapon against Armenia with permission from the Israeli government,” Martirosyan said.

CyberHUB-AM co-founder Artur Papyan warned Android users that if they haven’t received any warnings, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t been targeted.

Once the phone is infected with Pegasus, those behind the attack can get access to the entire information on the device.

Apple users are advised to install the latest updates for security reasons and use the Lockdown Mode if they suspect they are targeted.

Several hundreds of people have been targeted in Armenia, according to Martirosyan.

“These waves appeared during the war. This process has been taking place for over two years. Those targeted include both current and former government officials, oppositionists, journalists, staffers of various state bodies, and employees of foreign organizations working in Armenia. 30% of the cases that have applied to us were unsuccessful attacks, but the rest were successful. Some people have received such notifications several times. The phones of these people and their family members are infected,” he said.

The use of Pegasus is rather expensive, and targeting only one phone through the spyware costs the hackers somewhere between 20,000 to 60,000 dollars.

 15:44, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem has cancelled the controversial real estate agreement that would sign away some 25 percent of the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem to an Israeli investor for 99 years.

 “The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem announces that a letter was sent on October 26, 2023 to Xana Gardens Ltd. whereby the Patriarchate informed Xana Gardens of the cancellation of the agreement signed on 8/7/2021 regarding the Armenian Gardens in the Old City, Jerusalem,” the Chancellery of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem said in a press release.

 16:33, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. President Vahagn Khachaturyan visited on November 1 the newly opened headquarters of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) in Yeghegnadzor, the President's Office said in a press release. 

EUMA Head of Mission Markus Ritter welcomed the President and thanked him for the visit.

“Armenia highly values the activity of the EU civilian monitoring mission,” President Khachaturyan said.

Ritter presented details on the monitoring process to the President. The President then toured the EUMA HQ together with Ritter and Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos, and became acquainted with the main directions of the monitoring mission.

President Khachaturyan will be in Syunik Province until November 3.

 16:56, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, 1 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 1 November, USD exchange rate down by 0.61 drams to 402.39 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 5.36 drams to 424.48 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.05 drams to 4.33 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 3.16 drams to 488.46 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price down by 48.23 drams to 25834.17 drams. Silver price up by 0.19 drams to 300.14 drams.

 17:38, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS.  German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will visit Yerevan and Baku this week.

''Baerbock will head to the Armenian capital Yerevan on Friday for talks with her counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan,'' said German foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer.

Fischer told journalists that her visit will also include a visit to the European Union's monitoring mission in Armenia and camps hosting Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.

''Baerbock will subsequently travel to Baku on Saturday for talks with Azerbaijani foreign minister Jeyhun Bayramov.

Germany is committed to sustainable peace… building trust and reconciliation in the region are crucial," Fischer said.

 18:41, 1 November 2023

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 1, ARMENPRESS. U.S. Counselor of the Department of State Derek Chollet is set to travel to Israel on Wednesday "to reaffirm the United States’ commitment to stand in solidarity with Israel and support its right to defend itself, consistent with international humanitarian law," according to the State Department.

According to the statement, after visiting Israel, the U.S. Counselor of the Department of State will head to Jordan and Turkey.