Friday, EU, Armenia Poised To Sign Landmark Deal . Hovannes Movsisian Armenia - Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian (E) and EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn arrive for a news conference in Yerevan, 2Oct2017. The European Union and Armenia will almost certainly sign next month an agreement aimed at significantly deepening their relations, a senior EU official said late on Thursday. Johannes Hahn, the EU commissioner for European neighborhood policy, confirmed that the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is due to be signed during or on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels scheduled for November 24. "This agreement with Armenia will be signed, no doubt about it." Hahn said at a meeting with civil society members from Armenia and other ex-Soviet states held in Estonia's capital Tallinn. "I think it's pretty sure that this will be done around the summit or at the summit," he added. In an apparent reference to Russia, Hahn suggested that the EU's and Armenia's "neighbors" do not object to the deal. "At least they accept it," he said. Russian pressure exerted on Yerevan is widely believed to have scuttled a more ambitious Association Agreement which Armenia and the EU nearly finalized in 2013. President Serzh Sarkisian precluded that accord with his unexpected decision to join the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The spokesman for Sarkisian's ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), Eduard Sharmazanov, made clear late on Thursday that Yerevan is "planning" to sign the CEPA in Brussels. "Had we seen any problems in the agreement we would not have initialed it [in March,]" he said. Unlike the Association Agreement, the CEPA would not make Armenia part of a "deep and comprehensive free trade area" with the EU. Still, the 350-page document commits Yerevan to "approximating" Armenian economic laws and regulations to those of the EU. Hahn stressed that Armenia is the first EEU member state that will sign a "far-reaching agreement" with the EU. "This is important # This shows that co-existence is possible," he said. Hahn went on to reiterate his view that the CEPA will serve as a "blueprint" for other countries interested in closer ties with the EU. Armenian Parliament Approves Scrapping Of Draft Deferments . Ruzanna Stepanian Armenia - Armenian army soldiers are lined up at a military base in Tavush province, 2Dec2016. The Armenian parliament overwhelmingly passed on Friday a controversial government bill that will mostly abolish temporary exemptions from military service that have long been enjoyed by many students of state-run universities. Draft-age male students having government scholarships have until now been allowed to perform the two-year compulsory service after completing their undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate studies. The bill put forward by the Armenian Defense Ministry will grant draft deferments only to those students who will agree to undergo parallel military training and serve in the army as officers for three years after graduation. Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian said during parliament debates that it would close a key loophole for evading military service and reduce "corruption risks" among military and university officials. He argued that less than one-fifth of recipients of such deferments have eventually served in the army. The proposed measure has been strongly criticized by the opposition Yelk alliance. Deputies representing the bloc say it would prevent many students from becoming scientists or scholars. They also say that the proposed change must not be enacted because it would not stop sons of many senior government officials, pro-government politicians and wealthy businesspeople from dodging military service. Sargsian attacked Yelk leaders on Thursday, saying that they have no moral right to complain about draft evasion. He claimed that one of them, Edmon Marukian, enjoyed privileged treatment during his military service while another, Ararat Mirzoyan, avoided such service altogether despite not becoming a scientist. Both Marukian and Mirzoyan condemned the personal attacks from the minister. Sargsian also claimed that Yelk leaders backed the idea of scrapping draft deferments when he discussed it with them several years ago. "I can only thank God for the fact that with such a worldview you are a minority, not a majority, in the parliament," he declared. Not surprisingly, all nine deputies representing Yelk voted against the bill. But 87 other lawmakers backed its passage in the first reading. They represent not only the ruling Republican Party and its junior coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, but also the opposition Tsarukian Bloc. The adopted law will come into effect in January 2021, meaning that it will not apply to students who have already been granted deferments. Yerevan Signals Continued Reliance On Nuclear Energy . Anush Muradian Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian visits the Metsamor nuclear plant, 23Jan2016. Armenia's government has not abandoned its ambitious plans to build a new nuclear power station after the eventual closure of the aging plant at Metsamor, President Serzh Sarkisian indicated on Friday. Sarkisian said his administration remains committed to a 20-year energy strategy adopted in 2015 as he spoke at a regular session of a panel of domestic and international experts advising him on nuclear safety. "The [2015-2036] program calls for extending the exploitation of the existing [power-generating] block [of the Metsamor plant] until 2027 and gradually introducing new nuclear blocks later on," he said. Nuclear energy provides a "necessary level of energy security" in the country, added the president. Justice Minister Davit Harutiunian stated as recently as on October 17 that the Armenian government may give up the idea of replacing Metsamor, which generates roughly a third of Armenia's electricity, by a new nuclear plant meeting safety standards. Sarkisian pledged to build the new plant shortly after taking office in 2008. The project never got off the drawing board, however, as his government failed to attract billions of dollars in funding needed for the new plant's construction. The government decided instead to extend the life of Metsamor's 420-megawatt reactor by 10 years, until 2027. Russia is playing a key role in this endeavor, having provided Armenia with a $270 million loan and a $30 million grant in 2015. The money is due to be mainly spent on the purchase of Russian nuclear equipment and additional safety measures that will be taken at the Soviet-era facility located 35 kilometers west of Yerevan. Vahram Petrosian, the executive secretary of the presidential Atomic Energy Safety Council, said on Friday that the Metsamor may continue functioning even after 2027. "Our country is not so rich as to stop such a good [nuclear] block ten years later," Petrosian told reporters after the council meeting chaired by Sarkisian. "Rich countries extend the life [of their nuclear plants] by 30 years. Why should we stop it ten years later?" Asked about Harutiunian's statement, the official said: "We have no alternative to atomic energy." Press Review "Zhoghovurd" carries an editorial on the 18th anniversary of a terrorist attack on Armenia's parliament that left Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, parliament speaker Karen Demirchian and six other officials dead. "It's a crime whose consequences have still not been overcome and whose wounds have still not healed," writes the paper. "It's a crime which set Armenia's development several decade back and contributed to the establishment of dictatorship in the country." It says it remains unclear who masterminded the October 1999 shootings. "Haykakan Zhamanak" says the authorities claim to have averted at least three such attacks in Armenia in the last few years."It basically means that when Serzh Sarkisian's life and well-being was in danger the National Security Service managed to act properly, react in a timely manner, expose and prevent a crime," comments the paper. "But when the lives of Vazgen Sarkisian, Karen Demirchian and others were in danger the NSS led by Serzh Sarkisian [in 1999] was simply inactive." "Zhamanak" cites reports that Belarus will supply more weapons, notably Polonez rockets with a 200-kilometer range, to Azerbaijan. The paper denounces Prime Minister Karen Karapetian for not publicly demanding explanations from his Belarusian counterpart at this week's Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) meeting in Yerevan. It claims that Karapetian only cares about retaining his post with Russia's help in April 2018. "Chorrord Ishkhanutyun" reports that Archbishop Pargev Martirosian of Nagorno-Karabakh has lavished praise on Mikael Minasian, President Sarkisian's son-in-law and Armenia's ambassador to the Vatican, for donating several handmade Armenian carpets to Karabakh's medieval Gandzasar monastery. He said that Minasian is introducing a "new culture" of benevolence. "It's good that the Gandzasar monastery will have handmade Armenian carpets which are said to be worth several dozen thousands of dollars," the paper says. "But there would really be a new culture if not only the son-in-law, the brothers or relatives of Serzh Sarkisian but also ordinary businesspeople were able to engage in charitable activities." (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