THE RA NA APPROVES THE PROJECT OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORMS IN THE SECOND READING
ARKA News Agency
Sept 1 2005
YEREVAN, September 1. /ARKA/. The RA NA approved in the second
reading the project of constitutional reforms from the coalition
by 98 votes “for” and one “abstained”. As the Chairman of Standing
Committee on Defense, National Security and Internal Affairs Mher
Shahgeldyan stated, the authors of the project took into consideration
the majority of the suggestions offered by the United Labor Party,
“National Deputy” deputy group and some independent deputies. He also
added that the editorial notes will be considered during the interval
between the second and third readings. According to him, adoption of
constitutional reforms will not solve the existing problems, however
the package of constitutional reforms makes serious legal basis
for it. He emphasized that the project is a “step forward compared
with the acting Constitution and previous projects of constitutional
reforms’. At that,Shahgeldyan reminded about the positive evaluation
of the project by the USA and such international organizations as PACE,
OSCE and EU.
To note, on August 29 a special session of the RA NA on the project
of the constitutional reforms (ARKA – project of ruling coalition)
began in the second reading. The opposition parliamentary powers
represented by the National Unity party and Justice bloc, boycotted
the parliamentary sessions from Feb 2004, and participated in the
discussions, however, in connection with neglect of their suggestions
they refused to participate in voting. A.H.-0–

RA PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARYAN RECEIVES MEMBERS OF CREW OF “KILIKIA” VESSEL
ARKA News Agency
Sept 1 2005
YEREVAN, September1. /ARKA/. RA President Robert Kocharyan received
members of the crew of “Kilikia” vessel, which is the other day
finished the 2nd stage of the sailing, AR Presidential Press-Service
reports. The sailors presented the flag they sailed with to the RA
President and received another flag from the President, which they
will take to their future sailing. The sailors also presented the RA
President their signed photograph.
Kocharyan discussed with the crew members the issues of the 3rd
final stage of their sailing, as well as the issue of transporting
the vessel to Armenia. He pointed to the necessity to construct a
special berth in Lake Sevan and promised to help with this issue.
AYAS, the club of naval researches, has constructed a copy of
Armenian Kilikian trade sailing ship of 13th century, which started
a cruise following mediaeval routs around Europe through Black
Sea, Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. The vessel was constructed
in accordance with mediaeval manuscripts and epitomes with using
mediaeval technologies. In 2004, Kilikia entered 23 ports in 12
countries of Europe and Asia. The first stage of the expedition was
completed in the 2004 fall in Venice. On May 9, 2005, the ship put
to sea again. A.A. -0–

ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT ENDORSES BILL ON CHANGES IN CONSTITUTION
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 1 2005
YEREVAN, September 1 (Itar-Tass) – Armenian parliament has endorsed
a bill on changes in the Constitution that will be put up for voting
on a national referendum.
The constitutional amendments have been necessitated by the obligations
that Yerevan took while joining the Council of Europe and their
objective is to balance off the powers delegated to various branches
of state power.
The bill on constitutional changes received the approval of a number
of European institutions, including the Council of Europe’s Venice
Commission.
Tigran Torossian, the deputy-speaker of Armenian parliament said
the draft envisions radical changes in the procedure of parliament’s
dissolution and forming of the cabinet of ministers.
It also lifts the ban on dual citizenship, something that members of
Armenian communities in many countries of the world have long been
waiting for.
“We ourselves need these constitutional changes in the first place,”
President Robert Kocharian said in a televised interview Wednesday.
In May 2003, the authorities put up a bill on constitutional changes
on a referendum held along with parliamentary election, but voters
did not support it then.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

NEW BUILDING OF VAZGEN SARGSIAN MILITARY INSTITUTE OPENED
Yerkir
01.09.2005 13:42
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – President Robert Kocharian attended on Thursday
the ceremony of initiating the new building of the Vazgen Sargsian
Military Institute in Yerevan. Ranked by Defense Minister Serzh
Sargsian, Deputy Defense Minister Artur Aghabekian and the commanders
of the Institute, Kocharian toured the new building that is to house
the Institute’s Department of Infantry.
More than 1,000 cadets currently study in the two — Infantry and
Artillery — departments of the Institute. However, this academic
year only, 300 new cadets have been enrolled.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

INJURED MAKAAY TO MISS ARMENIA GAME
FoxSports.com
Sept 1 2005
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) – Netherlands forward Roy Makaay will
miss his team’s World Cup qualifier against Armenia with a knee injury.
Makaay, who injured his right knee in practice on Wednesday, has
headed to Munich for treatment.
Netherlands coach Marco van Basten will decide on Sunday evening if
the Bayern Munich striker is fit to play against Andorra in Eindhoven
on Sept 7.
The final 19-player roster for Saturday’s game against Armenia in
Yerevan was to be announced later Thursday.
The Netherlands leads European Group 1 with 22 points from eight games,
one point ahead of the Czech Republic. Armenia and Andorra are bottom
of the group with four points from nine games.

GAREGIN II CONGRATULATES STUDENTS, TEACHERS ON NEW ACADEMIC YEAR
ARKA News Agency
Sept 1 2005
YEREVAN, September 1. /ARKA/. Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II
congratulated Armenia’s teachers and students on a new academic year.
In his congratulatory message Garegin II said that on the occasion
of the 1600th anniversary of the Armenian alphabet, which is to be
celebrated in Armenia this year, the new academic year acquires a
special sense. Garegin II snet his blessings to teachers and students
and wished them success in the new academic year. P.T.

RUSSIA’S NEW PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO EU FULL OF IDEAS
RIA Novosti, Russia
Sept 1 2005
MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov). —
Veteran diplomat and former deputy Russian foreign finister Vladimir
Chizhov, 52, Russia’s new permanent representative to the European
Union, has plenty to be getting on with.
His many priority tasks include negotiating simplified visa regulations
for Russians traveling to the EU, promoting the energy dialogue, and
drafting a new, comprehensive agreement for the Russian-EU partnership.
At his first press conference in his new capacity, Chizhov, who
attended 13 of the 15 EU-Russia summits, spoke about his plans to
transform his representative office in Brussels into the main center
for coordinating Russia- EU cooperation, which has been expanding.
Chizhov’s appointment came at a difficult time for the EU, with the
“No” votes in the referendums on the European constitution in France
and the Netherlands casting considerable doubts over the future
of the document. But the diplomat is undeterred, saying that it is
not yet clear how the ballyhoo over the European constitution will
affect Russia.
Moscow would like the plans and actions of its partners in Brussels
to be more transparent, as this would simplify joint projects. Yet
high-ranking EU officials have hinted that in the complicated
situation in which the organization finds itself, it is particularly
keen to prove its effectiveness, primarily in its relations with
third countries. Russia would like to take full advantage of the
opportunities this presents.
Since Britain currently holds the EU presidency, the 16th EU-Russia
summit, scheduled for December 4, will be held in London. Chizhov
said that one of the key issues on the agenda would be the
introduction of simpler visa regulations for Russians traveling to EU
countries. Russian experts and their European counterparts have already
made good progress in drafting two key agreements on simplifying visa
regulations and on readmission. Brussels sees a connection between the
two issues and is insisting that Moscow commits to readmitting deported
illegal migrants. Moreover, the EU is referring both to Russians and
to citizens of third countries who have traveled to Europe via Russia.
Chizhov does not rule out the possibility of compromise over these
conditions. Moscow’s new man at the EU is optimistically predicting
that the next stage of the visa negotiations will consider scrapping
visas altogether.
Contrary to what many Western analysts are saying, the EU is not
making progress in this area conditional on Russia signing border
treaties with Estonia and Latvia. Moscow and Brussels both regret
that such treaties have not yet been signed and hope that a solution
will eventually be found to these bilateral problems. “The ball is
in the court of our Baltic colleagues,” Chizhov said.
The diplomat highlighted a relatively new and specific problem that
has emerged within the Russia-EU energy dialogue, namely the need to
work out conditions for trade in nuclear fuel cycle materials.
With the enlargement of the organization last year from 15 to 25
member states, the EU gained an additional 19 nuclear power plants.
Of these, all but one were built by Soviet specialists or with Soviet
technical assistance. (The only exception is the plant in Slovenia
that was built by the company Westinghouse.) Accordingly, these 18
nuclear power plants receive nuclear fuel using the same arrangement
as similar facilities in some veteran EU countries, such as Finland:
Russia supplies the plants with fresh nuclear fuel and retrieves
nuclear waste. The EU and Russia should now formalize the conditions
of trade in nuclear materials in a legally binding document.
Russia’s representative to the EU also does not see any obstacles to
expanding cooperation in the seemingly sensitive and unstable region
of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Russia is not laying
claim to a monopoly of influence in the post-Soviet territory and is
willing to develop dialogue with the EU in this area, especially as
some CIS countries plan to join the EU.
As for the “frozen conflicts” in the CIS, namely the Transdniester,
Georgia-Abkhazia, Georgia-Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts,
the EU is keen to help bring an end to these tensions. Chizhov said
that Moscow was willing to discuss conflict settlement proposals,
be they of a political or material nature.
The initial ten-year EU-Russia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement is
due to expire on December 1, 2007. Article 106 of the agreement says
that the agreement can be automatically renewed, so neither party
expects a legal vacuum in their relations. However, it is evident
today that the agreement no longer reflects the present level of
EU-Russia relations and should be amended.
It is too early to predict with any certainty what form a new agreement
might take, whether it will be a new, comprehensive agreement, a
short-term framework agreement with appendices on specific areas of
cooperation, or a new wording of the old agreement.
But the main issue is that Russia and the European Union will continue
to need each other, and even more so in the future than they do today.

NAGORNO-KARABAKH NEEDS RESOLUTION
Voice of America
Sept 1 2005
Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev met in Kazan, Russia, to discuss Nagomo-Karabakh, a
predominantly ethnic Armenian region of Azerbaijan, which, along
with seven surrounding Azerbaijan territories, is under Armenian
military control.
The local Armenian population declared independence from Azerbaijan
in 1991 and formed the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. But it is not
recognized by any country in the world.
War broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh and
an estimated thirty-five thousand people died. The fighting and the
expulsion of Armenians from Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis from Armenia
displaced more than a million people. Armenia and Azerbaijan have
observed a cease-fire agreement since 1994.
Some one-hundred-thousand Azerbaijanis remain in refugee
camps today, where conditions are often desperate. The U.S. is
providing humanitarian assistance to ethnic Armenian residents of
Nagorno-Karabakh and Azeris and others displaced to areas outside
the region. U.S. aid includes housing, health care, and clean water.
The U.S. supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and believes
that the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh should be decided through
negotiation. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged both
Mr. Kocharian and Mr. Aliyev to make the necessary compromises to
achieve an accord. In addition, Ms. Rice urged president Aliyev to hold
free and fair parliamentary elections this November in Azerbaijan. She
also told President Kocharian she hoped Armenia would enact a package
of constitutional reforms now before the parliament.
A permanent peace agreement in Nagorno-Karabakh would help bring
stability to Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Caucasus region. Democratic
reforms could further improve economic and political prospects for
both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The preceding was an editorial reflecting the views of the United
States Government.

RUSSIA, ARMENIA AMEND VISA-FREE TRAVEL AGREEMENT – RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY
RIA Novosti, Russa
Sept 1 2005
MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) – Russia and Armenia have cut down
the number of documents needed for their citizens to cross the border
visa-free, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
Starting from September 24, 2005, Russian and Armenian citizens will be
able to cross the border using only diplomatic and business passports,
foreign passports, or sailors’ IDs, the ministry said.

NORWAY SUPPORTS AZERBAIJAN’S INTEGRATION TO EURO-ATLANTIC STRUCTURES
AzerTag, Azerbaijan
Sept 1 2005
The Norwegian State Secretary Kim Traavic now visiting Azerbaijan on
1 September held at the Embassy of Norway in Baku a news conference
on results of his visit.
Stating that the key goal of the visit was to discuss development of
bilateral relations between two countries and regional questions,
the State Secretary informed on his meetings with President Ilham
Aliyev, with the Foreign Minister, with the representatives of UN,
OSCE, the Council of Europe in the capital of Azerbaijan, in which
he discussed regional questions, noting that he had received detailed
information also on the Armenia-Azerbaijan, Nagorno Karabakh conflict,
and the upcoming parliament elections in November.
Noting that as a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, Norway
supports integration of Azerbaijan to the Euro-Atlantic structures,
the diplomat said he welcomes participation of Azerbaijan in the NATO
PfP program, its participation in the coalition in combat against
global terrorism. Underlining that though Norway is not the EU member,
it supports admission of Azerbaijan to the “New Neighboring Policy”
of the European Union, Mr. Traavic said “we shall continue working
in this direction both with Azerbaijan and EU”.
Then, he answered questions of mass media representatives.