Tuesday, New Armenian President Vows To Boost ‘Strategic’ Ties With Russia Armenia - New Armenian President Armen Sarkissian arrives for his inauguration ceremony in Yerevan, 9 April 2018. President Armen Sarkissian has heaped praise on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and said he will seek to bolster Armenia’s already close relations with Russia, describing them as a “strategic alliance.” Sarkissian gave an interview to the official Russian TASS news agency hours after being sworn in as Armenia’s new and largely ceremonial head of state on Monday. “Taking this opportunity, I sincerely wish Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, who won a convincing victory in recent presidential elections in Russia, new great successes in his efforts to further develop his country’s economy and increase the well-being of its citizens and Russia’s role in the international arena,” he said. “As president of Armenia, I certainly regard as a priority the further strengthening of the Armenian-Russian strategic alliance, friendship between our peoples and expansion of people-to-people contacts,” he added. That alliance has a “firm historical base” which needs to be “preserved, enriched and constantly multiplied,” said Sarkissian. Putin was one of the first foreign leaders to congratulate Sarkissian on being elected president by the Armenian parliament on March 2. He expressed confidence that Sarkissian will contribute to a “further development” of Russian-Armenian ties. The new Armenian president told TASS that he hopes to visit Moscow “very soon.” “Armenia’s leaders have traditionally paid their first officials visits [abroad] to Moscow,” he said. Sarkissian, who has lived in Britain for nearly three decades, described Russia as a “brotherly country.” “For many generations in Armenia and me in particular, Russian culture, art and literature has been and remains a source of inspiration,” said the 64-year-old. “It has played a role in the formation of my worldview.” Karapetian ‘Very Likely’ To Become Deputy PM • Astghik Bedevian Armenia - Prime Minister Karen Karapetian campaigns for parliamentary elections in Syunik province, 13Mar2017. Outgoing Prime Minister Karen Karapetian is “very likely” to serve as first deputy prime minister in Armenia’s new government that will be formed later this month, the ruling Republican Party (HHK) said on Tuesday. “Karen Karapetian will continue to play a serious role in the government system,” the HHK spokesman, Eduard Sharmazanov, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “It’s just that as has been the case until now, the leader and locomotive of that system will be [former President] Serzh Sarkisian, the head of the ruling party.” Karapetian has been tipped to take up what will be the second most powerful position under Armenia’s new, parliamentary system of government since Sarkisian signaled last month his plans to hold on to power. The two men met on Saturday to discuss their political future two days before Sarkisian completed his second and final presidential term. The latter indicated that they will be Armenia’s two top leaders for the next four years. Karapetian said on Monday that they decided to “propose” to the HHK to nominate Sarkisian for prime minister. He cited the need for a “smooth and effective transition to the new system of government.” The Armenian parliament controlled by the HHK and its allies is due to vote on the new prime minister on April 17. Sharmazanov said the party’s governing body will discuss and field its candidate for the top government post by the end of this week. Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian and Prime Minister Karen Karapetian arrive for a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 29Jun2017. Sarkisian appointed Karapetian as prime minister in September 2016 in the hope of speeding up sluggish economic growth through major reforms promised by the former business executive. Karapetian has since repeatedly expressed his desire to retain his post after Armenia is transformed into a parliamentary republic in April 2018. Opposition leaders scoffed at the outgoing premier’s readiness to downgrade his nominal status. “I consider this a humiliation and deception of the Armenian people, including by [Karapetian,]” one of them, Raffi Hovannisian, told reporters. He argued that it was Karapetian, not Sarkisian, who led the HHK’s parliamentary election campaign in April 2017. Another, more outspoken opposition figure, Nikol Pashinian, branded Karapetian a “servant” of Sarkisian. Pashinian will launch on Friday daily demonstrations in Yerevan aimed at preventing the ex-president from extending his rule. Karapetian on Monday reaffirmed his declared commitment to “fundamental” reforms in the country.Armenian opposition groups have been highly skeptical about his ambitious reform agenda all along, however. They have questioned official statistics showing that Armenia’s economy grew by 7.5 percent last year. Armenian Nuclear Plant Not At Risk Of Closure, Says Government • Tatevik Lazarian Armenia - A general view of the Metsamor nuclear plant, 12May2011. A landmark agreement signed by Armenia and the European Union in November does not call for the closure of the Metsamor nuclear power plant anytime soon, a senior Armenian official insisted on Tuesday. The Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) covers a wide range of areas, including Armenia-EU cooperation on “energy matters.” It specifically refers to “the closure and safe decommissioning of Metsamor nuclear power plant and the early adoption of a road map or action plan to that effect.” The 350-page agreement makes clear at the same time that such a plan must take into account “the need for [the plant’s] replacement with new capacity to ensure the energy security of the Republic of Armenia.” Deputy Foreign Minister Karen Nazarian emphasized this provision when he assured Armenian lawmakers that as a result of the CEPA Yerevan will not be forced to shut down Metsamor before replacing it with a new nuclear or other energy facility. “There is no such language in the agreement,” Nazarian said during a parliament debate on the CEPA’s ratification. The EU and the United State have long pressed for the decommissioning of the plant generating roughly one-third of Armenia’s electricity. They have said that Metsamor’s Soviet-built reactor does not meet modern safety standards. Successive Armenian governments have sought to allay these fears. Serzh Sarkisian pledged to build a new plant shortly after becoming Armenia’s president in 2008. However, his government failed to attract billions of dollars in funding needed for replacing the Metsamor facility. 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 being mainly spent on the purchase of Russian nuclear equipment and additional safety measures taken at the plant located 35 kilometers west of Yerevan. A 20-year energy strategy adopted by the Sarkisian administration in 2015 calls for Armenia’s continued reliance on atomic energy. Press Review “Serzh Sarkisian’s presidential tenure ended yesterday, and just as some people rushed to rejoice at that development they were in for a bitter disappointment,” writes “Zhoghovurd.” “It was announced the same day that Serzh Sarkisian will remain at the helm, as prime minister.” The paper points to outgoing Prime Minister Karen Karapetian’s announcement that he and Sarkisian will tell the ruling Republican Party to nominate the ex-president for prime minister. It claims that Karapetian found himself in an awkward position because he had been promised that he could retain his post in April 2018. “Zhamanak” also reports and comments on Karapetian’s statement. “Interestingly, until now Karapetian not only did not talk of challenges [facing Armenia] but even expressed readiness to stay on as prime minister,” writes the paper. “It looks like until now he did not know what he is prepared for or what it means to be prime minister under the new model [of government.]” “Aravot” would have liked to see someone other than Serzh Sarkisian to take over as prime minister. “Maybe he would not have had Serzh Sarkisian’s experience, but that could have prevented some manifestations of stagnation that have been especially visible in recent months,” editorializes the paper. But, it says, Armenians gave the ruling Republican Party (HHK) the mandate to pick the next prime minister in the April 2017 parliamentary elections. “Yes, many of them took 10,000 drams [in vote bribes,]” it says. “If the marching and rejecting [oppositionists] acknowledge the fact that the HHK won the majority of votes in the parliamentary elections, then everything else can be considered secondary.” “Haykakan Zhamanak” questions, meanwhile, the legitimacy of Armenia’s new president, Armen Sarkissian, who was sworn in on Monday. The paper says he has yet to prove that he has held only Armenian citizenship for the last six years in accordance with Armenia’s constitution. It also dismisses Sarkissian’s calls for combatting corruption and injustice and easing economic hardship in the country, arguing that he will have few executive powers. (Tigran Avetisian) Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org