Thursday, October 5, 2017 Armenian Parliament Ratifies New Defense Accord With Russia . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Russian Air Force officers and a combat helicopter at the Erebuni airbase in Yerevan, 12Mar2016. The National Assembly overwhelmingly ratified on Thursday a Russia-Armenian agreement on a joint military force that was first formed in Armenia more than a decade ago. Under the agreement signed late last year, "the united group of troops" is tasked with "ensuring military security in the region" and thwarting or repelling possible foreign aggressions against Armenia or Russia. The joint contingent comprises troops from the Russian military base in Armenia and an Armenian army corps. It has been led by Armenian army generals since its creation in 2001. The Armenian parliament backed the treaty, ratified by Russia's parliament this summer, by 87 votes to 7. All of those seven deputies represent the opposition Yelk alliance. Yelk's representatives said during Wednesday's parliamentary debate on the issue that the accord will limit Armenia's sovereignty and put its armed forces under Russian control. Leaders of the pro-government majority in the parliament dismissed those claims. Eduard Sharmazanov, a deputy parliament speaker and the spokesman for the ruling Republican Party (HHK), insisted on Thursday that the Russian-Armenian military force will boost Armenia's security. He said it will defend the country in case of a military attack by Turkey or Azerbaijan. Armenia -- Eduard Sharmazanov, the spokesman for the ruling Repubican Party of Armenia. "If a tense situation erupts on Armenia's borders and if Armenia appeals to its allies -- Russia and the [Collective Security Treaty Organization] -- they will be obliged, under the CSTO statutes, to intervene and defend Armenia," Sharmazanov told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "The same will be true for that military force, if necessary." Deputy Defense Minister Artak Zakarian confirmed during the parliament debate that the mandate of the Russian-Armenian unit covers only Armenia's internationally recognized territory, meaning that it will not be required to intervene in possible hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh. Sharmazanov dismissed statements by pro-Western opposition figures that Russia cannot be trusted because it has sold billions of dollars worth of offensive weapons to Azerbaijan in the past decade. He insisted that there is still no alternative to Armenia's close military ties with Russia. "If we don't create this united military force, what can we create in its place?" he said. Armenian Lawmakers `Brawl' After Bitter Debate . Astghik Bedevian Armenia -- Parliament deputies Nikol Pashinian (L) and Artashes Geghamian. Nikol Pashinian, an outspoken opposition lawmaker, claimed to have been physically assaulted by a pro-government colleague in the Armenian parliament on Thursday after publicly deriding his pro-Russian views. Pashinian said that Artashes Geghamian attacked and punched him in a corridor of the parliament building in Yerevan. "I successfully defended myself," he wrote on Facebook. "And I shined my shoes with him a couple of times." Geghamian, who represents the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), denied attacking Pashinian. "If I punch someone, rest assured that they will be taken to hospital because I had practiced boxing for three and a half years," he told reporters. Asked about red spots on Pashinian's face, Geghamian said: "He probably blushed with shame seeing as he makes ludicrous statements." Earlier in the day, the two men bitterly argued during a parliament debate on Armenia's military cooperation with Russia. Pashinian, 42, mockingly reminded Geghamian of his Communist past as he deplored the 67-year-old's strong support for close ties with Moscow. "You had better speak of Marxism and Leninism," he said. "Watch your mouth," shot back Geghamian. Pashinian challenged the ruling HHK to react to "this hooligan act" when he addressed the National Assembly later in the day. He linked the alleged incident with a recent statement by the HHK's parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, seemingly threatening opposition figures with violence. "This is a very serious issue, and we intend to pursue it till the end so that we can draw conclusions regarding the mode of our further work here," added one of the leaders of the opposition Yelk alliance. Geghamian is a former opposition leader who was one of the main candidates in Armenia's 2003 presidential election. He subsequently pledged allegiance to President Serzh Sarkisian, whom he had for years harshly criticized. Geghamian was reelected to the parliament on the HHK ticket in April. Government Formalizes Delay In Highway Upgrades . Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia - The Yerevan-Ararat highway is upgraded as part of the North-South transport project, 2Feb2014. The Armenian government formally acknowledged on Thursday a two-year delay in the reconstruction of two major national highways as part of an ambitious project to upgrade the country's transport infrastructure. Work on the two highways stretching almost 100 kilometers from Ashtarak, a town 22 kilometers west of Yerevan, to Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri was due to be completed this year in line with the government's agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The Manila-based bank is financing it with two loans worth over $250 million. Officials in Yerevan admitted earlier this year that these roadworks have fallen behind schedule. Some of them blamed Spanish and Chinese construction firms that were contracted to carry out them. The government formalized this delay by extending its deadlines for expanding and refurbishing the two roads to September 2019. Transport and Communications Minister Vahan Martirosian gave no reasons for the decision when he spoke at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan on Thursday. The roadworks stem from the government's North-South transport project aimed at upgrading Armenia's main highways stretching over 550 kilometers to Georgia and Iran. Only two highways connecting Yerevan to the towns of Ararat and Ashtarak have been completed to date, costing $60 million in ADB funding. Their total length of is just over 30 kilometers. Martirosian insisted on September 26 that the government is committed to rebuilding the remaining road sections mainly passing through the mountainous Vayots Dzor and Syunik provinces in the country's southeast. He estimated that this will require as much as $1.5 billion in funding, a figure equivalent to roughly half of the Armenian state budget. Martirosian said the government hopes to attract the investments from private firms, rather than seek more loans from the ADB or other international lenders. That would lead to the creation of Armenia's first-ever toll roads, he said. The minister gave no possible dates for the project's completion. Silva Adamian, who coordinates a team of civic groups monitoring the project's implementation, was highly skeptical on that score. "We will not have that [reconstructed] road in full," she told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "We may get parts of it, but that won't happen anytime soon. If we have something by 2025, it will be very good." Press Review "Zhamanak" reaffirms its strong opposition to a new bilateral agreement on a joint Russian-Armenian military force in a commentary on Wednesday's parliamentary debate in Yerevan on its ratification. The paper claims that Yerevan's continuing heavy reliance on Moscow for defense and security is based on wrong geopolitical calculations. "Aravot" maintains that in 2013 Armenia could have signed an Association Agreement with the European Union and thus avoided joining the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). At the same time, the paper questions the wisdom and timing of the opposition Yelk bloc's calls for Armenia's exit from the EEU, saying that neither the authorities nor most ordinary citizens support this idea. "We must also take into account the fact that relations between the West and Russia have further deteriorated in the last four years. Do we really need to get willy-nilly involved in that tussle?" it says. While calling Armenia's membership in the EEU an "unpleasant reality," the paper says that it is not the root cause of the country's problems. "Zhoghovurd" quotes Agriculture Minister Ignati Arakelian as saying that a sharp increase in the prices of meat in Armenia is only temporary. "There will be a [price] decrease later on," he says. "Everything changes. The prices cannot remain unchanged." The paper dismisses this explanation as "inadequate." "Hayots Ashkhar" looks at suggestions that with their strong push for the holding of a meeting of Armenia's and Azerbaijan's presidents later this year the U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group are indicating that they have "prepared something for the parties" which has to do with their "fundamental interests." "It is evident that the Karabakh conflict is the only conflict in the region where major differences between the countries leading the OSCE Minsk Group do not impede discussions on the Madrid Principles drawn up by them before," writes the paper. (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2017 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org