11:41,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia seeks to enhance cooperation with Europol by sending a liaison officer to the agency and strengthening information exchange.

On September 28, Armenian Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan and Europol Executive Director Catherine De Bolle signed an agreement on establishing cooperation, which is aimed at enhancing partnership in fighting transnational crime.

The January 25 Cabinet meeting agenda includes an item on approving the signing of two related agreements with Europol seeking to create a secure communications line between the sides and deepen partnership.

The partnership agreement will become the basis for stationing an Armenian liaison officer in Europol, while the MoU will serve as the legal basis for creating a secure line for information exchange with Europol.

 12:15,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government will discuss at the January 25 Cabinet meeting the ratification of the agreement with the EU on the status of the EU Mission in Armenia.

On November 20, 2023, Armenia and the EU signed an agreement regarding the status of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA).

Armenian Deputy FM Paruyr Hovhannisyan explained after the signing that the agreement on the status is about creating facilitated conditions for the monitors, ranging from healthcare to technical issues. “It’s similar to the authority that diplomats have in every country,” the Deputy FM had said.

 12:29,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenia plans to have military attachés in Czechia and Kyrgyzstan.

The decisions on approving the new posts are included in the agenda of the January 25 Cabinet meeting.

The move is expected to strengthen bilateral partnership level.

The military attaché of the Armenian Embassy in Germany will cover Czechia, while the military attaché of the Armenian Embassy in Kazakhstan will cover Kyrgyzstan.

 14:42,

YEREVAN, JUNE 24, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Air Force conducted training flights on January 24 in Lori province, the Ministry of Defense spokesperson Aram Torosyan announced on social media.

 16:01,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. President of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides has called on European legislators at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to address the long-term issues of the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh who’ve been forcibly displaced.

“We witnessed another humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh which concerns tens of thousands of people. That deep humanitarian crisis led to the mass exodus of the Armenian population from the region. We must take all necessary measures to provide urgent humanitarian aid and address the long-term issues of the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. At the same time, the growing and urgent needs of Armenia resulting from the developments of last year’s September must receive proper and adequate solution,” Christodoulides said.

The Cypriot President said that his country supports the EU-mediated peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

 16:34,

BRUSSELS, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. A conference will take place in the European Parliament on the preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh’s cultural and religious heritage.

The Conference on Protecting Armenian cultural and religious heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh will be held at the initiative of MEP Miriam Lexmann.

Speaking at a press conference ahead of the event, Lexmann warned that the Armenian heritage in NK is being destroyed and Azerbaijan’s actions are left unpunished. “…yes, today the EU needs gas, for which it signed an agreement with Azerbaijan, but we don’t have the right to question or ignore the EU value system,” she said.

Pierre d’Argent, professor at the University of Louvain and a guest professor at the University of Leiden, Counsel for Armenia before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in his remarks said that the Azerbaijani government is distorting the reality by denying the existence of the Armenian cultural heritage.

Armenia’s Ambassador to Belgium and Permanent Representative to the EU Tigran Balayan said that the Azeri authorities began the campaign of destroying Armenian cultural heritage back in 2005, when thousands of cross-stones were destroyed in Nakhijevan. “We’ve reached this point because nothing was done to prevent it,” he said.

The conference will take place on January 24.

 17:17,

YEREVAN, 24 JANUARY, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs “Armenpress” that today, 24 January, USD exchange rate down by 0.36 drams to 404.76 drams. EUR exchange rate down by 0.40 drams to 439.97 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate down by 0.01 drams to 4.59 drams. GBP exchange rate down by 0.46 drams to 514.57 drams.

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

Gold price down by 23.40 drams to 26307.76 drams. Silver price down by 0.25 drams to 288.90 drams.

 19:36,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Russia and Finland terminated an agreement on facilitating cross-border cooperation on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reported.

It quoted the Russian embassy in Finland as saying this was “due to the targeted actions taken by the Finnish side in 2022-2023 to sever multifaceted ties with Russia.”

In October, the Russian Foreign Ministry handed a note to the Finnish Ambassador to Russia, Antti Helantera, notifying their neighbor they were terminating the agreement between Moscow and Helsinki on promoting cross-border cooperation. The agreement had been signed in Helsinki on April 13th, 2012. The termination was agreed to by both sides.

The Finnish government closed all its eastern border crossings with Russia to passenger traffic in mid‑December, 2023. The border closure, originally valid until January 14, 2024, has been extended until Feb 11th.

Russia opposed Finland’s decision, saying that this action violated the rights and interests of both Finns and Russians.

Finland shares a 1,340 kilometer border with Russia. After being admitted to NATO last April, its border became a common border with a member of NATO.

 19:45,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS.  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in a phone call that the Hungarian government supports Sweden's membership of the military alliance, Orban said on social media platform X on Wednesday.

"I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO-membership of Sweden," Orban said in the post.

Orban added that he also told Stoltenberg that he will continue to urge the Hungarian national assembly to vote in favour of Sweden's accession to NATO and conclude the ratification at the first possible opportunity.

 21:25,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan participated in the Leadership Forum of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) in Belgium on January 23-24.

According to the Human Rights Defender's Office, about 30 representatives of the ENNHRI member countries took part in the event. Various issues related to human rights and the rule of law were included in the agenda of the discussions.

According to the source, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders  gave a keynote speech at the Leadership Forum organized for the heads of national human rights institutions.