Associated Press Worldstream
September 29, 2005 Thursday

EU envoy praises Armenia’s constitutional amendments

YEREVAN, Armenia

An EU envoy on Thursday hailed constitutional amendments passed by
the Armenian parliament as a step in the right direction.

The nation’s parliament on Wednesday gave final approval to the
amendments, which are intended to impose a more strict separation of
powers between the judicial, executive and legislative branches.

“Now that the amendments are there, we can state that the country is
moving in the right direction,” said Heikki Talvitie, the EU’s envoy
to southern Caucasus.

Talvitie said that the EU is planning to expand its contacts with
Armenia and the ex-Soviet Caucasus nations of Georgia and Azerbaijan
under its initiative “Expanded Europe: New Neighbors.”

Tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains high more than a
decade after a 1994 cease-fire ended a six-year war that left the
disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh in Armenian hands.

Some 30,000 people were killed and a million displaced, and the lack
of resolution of the enclave’s status has impeded economic
development in the region.

A draft budget for next year approved by the Armenian Cabinet
Thursday envisages a 13-percent hike in defense spending to the level
equivalent to US$150 million ([euro]125).

The oil-rich Azerbaijan, which budgeted over US$300 million
([euro]250 million) for defense this year, will double its defense
spending next year.