20:21,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell  has  addressed  deadly  Azerbaijani  aggression against Armenia on February 12, which resulted in four Armenian casualties.

According to the Armenpress correspondent,  Borrell first recalled the statement issued by the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan on February 12 that a soldier was allegedly injured as a result of a shot fired by the Armenian armed forces, and then noted that Azerbaijan's response was disproportionate.

"This once again underscores the necessity and urgency of establishing a distance between the opposing forces. This is what the European Union has been demanding for a long time. I reaffirm the full and complete commitment of the European Union to support sustainable peace based on the recognition of sovereignty, inviolability of borders, and territorial integrity," Borrell said.

 09:10,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenia and Hungary are developing an agreement on healthcare cooperation, Minister of Healthcare Anahit Avanesyan has said.

Avanesyan visited Hungary February 5-7 as part of President Vahagn Khachaturyan’s delegation.

In Budapest, Avanesyan met with Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér to discuss partnership and prospects of signing a memorandum of cooperation.

“During the meeting with my counterpart we discussed all the issues of mutual interest. We agreed to work together on the text of a bilateral agreement. I hope we will sign it in the coming months after finalizing it. I am happy that we are restarting the highly important dialogue and work with Hungary in healthcare,” Avanesyan said.

The minister pointed out the enhancement of Armenian-Hungarian cooperation in pharmaceutics, education and health insurance sectors. “Hungarian pharmaceutical production is very well known in Armenia, and we attach importance to the development of our relations in this sector. We agreed to work around an exchange program for medical university students and specialists in Hungary. Hungary also has a very important system in terms of providing scholarships to foreign students, thus I attach importance for Armenia to have access to this as well. In addition, in terms of introducing an insurance system, studying the experience of European countries is highly important and interesting for us. I have to say, we outlined quite similar directions which we plan to place at the foundation of our system. This works in Hungary. They have a stable and good health insurance system,” Avanesyan said.

 09:42,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Brussels met with Gert Jan Koopman, the Director-General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission.

Ahead of the Armenia-EU Partnership Council session, the sides discussed a broad range of bilateral agenda issues, particularly the effective application of the CEPA provisions and prospects of deepening partnership, the foreign ministry said in a readout. 

In this context, they commended the visit of the delegation of the European External Action Service and the European Commission to Armenia in December 2023, and discussed the steps aimed at increasing Armenia’s economic resilience.

FM Mirzoyan and Director-General Gert Jan Koopman also discussed issues of Armenia’s participation in regional economic and transport projects, as well as looked into the opportunities for further advancing the Crossroads of Peace project developed by the Armenian government.

The security situation in the South Caucasus and challenges in the direction of ensuring lasting stability were also discussed.

Efforts aimed at addressing the mid-term and long-term needs of the forcibly displaced Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh were discussed.

 09:56,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan has met with MEP Nathalie Loiseau, the Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defense.

“Armenia-EU Partnership agenda issues were discussed, where the EU legislative body has its unique role in advancing them. In this context, the prospects of deepening partnership and mutual efforts were discussed,” the foreign ministry said in a readout.

The sides comprehensively discussed regional issues in the South Caucasus. Armenia’s vision of overcoming the existing challenges, including with international support, was presented to MEP Loiseau. The importance of suppressing territorial aspirations against Armenia and the unconditional adherence to the territorial integrity and inviolability of borders was emphasized. The principled approach and documents adopted by the European Parliament, containing unambiguous assessments and messages, in difficult times for the people of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, were touched upon.

FM Mirzoyan thanked MEP Nathalie Loiseau for her significant contribution in advancing issues of key importance for Armenia and protection of humanitarian values and awarded her with the Medal of Gratitude of the Republic of Armenia.

 10:10,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The United States believes that 'continued dialogue' is the best way to reach sustainable settlement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.

“We do obviously support continued dialogue around that issue. We believe it’s the best way to reach a sustainable end to the conflict, and we will continue to pursue it,” Miller said at a press briefing when asked on the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations process.

Miller declined to comment when asked on the U.S. position on the sides trying to negotiate without mediators.

Despite the ongoing peace efforts, Azerbaijan perpetrated yet another unprovoked attack against Armenia: Azeri forces on February 13 opened cross-border gunfire at an Armenian military position in Syunik province, killing 2 soldiers and wounding others.

 12:19,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Ambassador-at-large Edmon Marukyan has released a statement on Azerbaijan’s latest deadly border shooting targeting an Armenian military position in Syunik province.

The Azeri gunfire killed 2 Armenian soldiers and wounded others.

“According to the statement of the State border guard service of Azerbaijan, tonight, they carried out the "Revenge" operation by attacking the border guard position located in the sovereign territory of Armenia, as a result of which two Armenian servicemen were killed and several others were injured.

“First, Azerbaijan declares that there was fire from the Armenian side, as if there was a wounded person, then the Armenian side declares that it will investigate the incident, and the Azerbaijani side attacks and kills and injures people without waiting for any investigation, thus showing that they were prepared for an attack and were just looking for a cause.

Thus, it is obvious that Azerbaijan does not give up its "traditional" criminal, aggressive behavior and first spreads unchecked, one sided, fake news as if there was a shooting from the Armenian side, and then carries out a ready-made operation in the sovereign territory of Armenia, killing and distorting new lives. This chain of criminal acts carried out by Azerbaijan must be stopped. The international community must condemn this chain of vile unprovoked actions carried out by Azerbaijan and call Azerbaijan to withdraw its occupying forces from more than 215 square kilometers of sovereign territory of Armenia, which is an aggression by virtue and provocation against Armenia,” Marukyan said on X.

 15:53,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The fifth meeting of the EU-Armenia Partnership Council is underway in Brussels.

Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Josep Borrell, the Vice President of the European Commission, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy are participating in the meeting.

The agenda of the meeting includes a wide range of issues: the implementation process of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement, including the reforms implemented in Armenia and their results. The prospects of deepening the Armenia-EU partnership in various fields will also be touched upon, taking into account the current priorities and existing challenges. The security situation in the South Caucasus and regional issues will also be discussed.

 16:58,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. Today, the European Commission is allocating an additional €5.5 million in humanitarian aid to support the Armenians displaced from the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the EU Delegation to Armenia said in a press release.  

“Many of the people who fled to Armenia during the last year's mass exodus took little to no belongings with them, leaving them dependent on emergency aid.

“€1.5 million of this funding is assigned for disaster preparedness to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities to potential crises. The remaining €4 million of humanitarian funding is mainly focusing on providing the displaced Karabakh Armenians with regular cash transfers and vouchers to help them cover their basic needs.

“Through its humanitarian partners, the EU aims to support people in need with access to food, shelter healthcare, mental health services, and protection.

“Underlining EU's humanitarian support to Karabakh Armenians, Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: “This is the first winter for thousands of Karabakh Armenians who fled to Armenia last Autumn. In these challenging times, it is our humanitarian duty to provide protection and assistance to the people most in need. With this new €5.5 million funding, we will aim to further strengthen the existing EU humanitarian response to the displaced people in Armenia, by providing them with access to basic services.”

“This funding comes in addition to the €12.2 million already announced by the European Commission in response to the mass exodus of Karabakh Armenians in September 2023,” reads the press release.

 17:06,

YEREVAN, 13 FEBUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 13 February, USD exchange rate down by 0.30 drams to 404.23 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.48 drams to 435.48 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 4.43 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 1.44 drams to 512.04 drams.

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

Gold price down by 127.39 drams to 26190.13 drams. Silver price up by 3.16 drams to 297.81 drams.

 17:32,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 13, ARMENPRESS. The Prosecutor-General’s Office of the Republic of Armenia has been included in the European Network of Prosecutors for the Environment (ENPE) as an observer.

Armenia is now the only country in the region to have an observer status in ENPE.

ENPE seeks to: • support the operative work of environmental prosecutors; • promote the exchange of information and experience of the enforcement and prosecution of environmental crime between members; • foster knowledge of environmental law among prosecutors and promote the development of environmental criminal law as an integral part of criminal law enforcement generally; • share experience of investigations, prosecutions and sanctions in the field of environmental criminal law; • contribute to better understanding, implementation and enforcement of environmental criminal law; • encourage and support co-operation between Members and facilitate capacity building in relation to the prevention and prosecution of environmental crime; • facilitate collection of data about environmental crime across Europe and enforcement action taken in relation to environmental crime; • identify and develop good, and whenever possible, best practice, for successful prosecutions and produce guidance, tools, common standards and approaches to the prosecution of environmental offences; • share training programmes in relation to environmental criminal law.

The network has over 60 members and observers (UK, France, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and others).