PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. President maintains Armenia and Azerbaijan
military aid parity
28.12.2007 14:27 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ U.S. President George Bush signed
the fiscal year (FY) 2008 overall appropriations
package this week, known as the omnibus bill, which
included $58.5 million in economic assistance for
Armenia and maintained Armenia and Azerbaijan military
aid parity, reported the Armenian National Committee
of America (ANCA.)

The Armenia economic aid figures are $17.5 million
less than the FY 2007 figures but represent a clear
increase over the Administration’s request of $35
million. Congress also approved $3 million in foreign
military financing (FMF) assistance to Armenia and
Azerbaijan, reversing the Administration’s latest bid
to retreat from its 2001 pledge to maintain parity in
military aid to Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"We are troubled by the reductions in aid to Armenia
and Nagorno Karabakh, particularly in light on the
ongoing economic costs of the Turkish and Azerbaijani
blockades, as well as Baku’s increasingly violent
rhetoric about restarting its war against the
Armenians," said ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian. "We thank all of our friends in the
Congressional appropriations process who, working
against significant competing budgetary pressures –
were able to deliver figures higher than the
President’s request, and also to maintain military aid
parity."

In addition to the Armenia allocation, the omnibus aid
bill also includes $50.5 million for Georgia and $19
million for Azerbaijan. Millennium Challenge Account
funding is set for $1.5 billion, half of President
Bush’s request.

The final compromise aid legislation does not
stipulate a specific amount of aid to Karabakh, urging
the State Department to be guided instead by the
individual Senate and House recommendations adopted
earlier this year, one of which did allocate $6
million in aid to Karabakh.