SITUATION WITH U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA UNDERWENT NO CHANGES

PanARMENIAN.Net
01.08.2007 16:12 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The situation with the appointment of U.S. Ambassador
to Armenia underwent no changes, said Rudolf Perina, the U.S. Charge
d’Affairs in Armenia. The White House insists on Richard Hoagland’s
designation. It’s the Senate’s turn, according to him.

Mr Perina reminded that his stay in Armenia will last until the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary assumes the office in
Yerevan, IA Regnum reports.

September 7, 2006 Senator Robert Menendez blocked Hoagland’s
candidacy in the Senate. December 1 the New Jersey legislator joined
with Majority Leader Harry Reid in calling on the Administration to
offer a new candidacy for this post. The negative attitude towards
Richard Hoagland’s nomination is connected with his outright denial
of the Armenian Genocide in response to questions posed during and
after his June 2006 confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. Former U.S. Ambassador to Yerevan John Evans
was forced into early retirement last year, after he used the term
Armenian Genocide to describe the mass murders of Armenians in Turkey.