Thursday, April 6, 2023


Armenia Set To Join U.S.-Led Military Drills


POLAND - U.S., Polish and French soldiers stand near their armoured vehicles 
during Defender Europe 2022 military exercise of NATO troops at the military 
range in Bemowo Piskie, May 24, 2022.


Amid its deepening rift with Russia, Armenia appears to have decided to 
participate in a U.S.-led military exercise in Europe that will start later this 
month.

The U.S. Department of Defense listed Armenia among 26 countries whose troops 
will take part in the Defender 23 exercise designed to “deter those who would 
threaten the peace of Europe and defend the continent from aggression.”

“This annual, nearly two-month long exercise is focused on the strategic 
deployment of U.S.-based forces, employment of Army pre-positioned stocks and 
interoperability with European allies and partners,” Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon 
spokeswoman, told reporters late on Wednesday.

“Approximately 9,000 U.S. troops and about 17,000 troops from 26 allied and 
partner nations will participate and portions of the exercise will stretch 
across 10 different European countries,” Singh said.

All of those nations except Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Kosovo are members of 
NATO.

As of Thursday afternoon, the Armenian military did not confirm what would be 
its first-ever participation in those war games.

It was reportedly close to sending troops to the U.S.-led drills held in 2021 
but opted out of them at the last minute. The Defense Ministry in Yerevan said 
at the time that Armenian soldiers join only those NATO drills that simulate 
international peacekeeping operations and train military personnel for them.

Germany - Armenian soldiers participate in military exercises in Hohenfels, 
April 2016

Armenia’s relations with Russia, its traditional ally, and the Collective 
Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) have deteriorated in recent months due to 
what Yerevan sees as a lack of support from its allies in the conflict with 
Azerbaijan.

Earlier this year, the Armenian government cancelled a CSTO military exercise 
planned in Armenia and refused to appoint a deputy secretary-general of the 
Russian-led military alliance It also rejected other CSTO member states’ offer 
to deploy a monitoring mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

The unprecedented tensions have called into question Armenia’s continued 
membership in the CSTO. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian claimed on March 16 that 
it is the CSTO that could “leave Armenia.” A Russian Foreign Ministry 
spokeswoman laughed off that remark.

A senior Russian diplomat said last week that Moscow hopes to end the South 
Caucasus country’s growing estrangement from its CSTO allies.

Tensions between Russia and NATO have escalated dramatically since the Russian 
invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin said recently that the U.S.-led alliance is 
increasingly “hostile” to Russia and more and more involved in the war in 
Ukraine.




Armenian Speaker Apologizes For Spitting At Heckler


Armenia - Parliament speaker Alen SImonian chairs a session of the National 
Assembly, November 24, 2022.


Facing a chorus of condemnation, parliament speaker Alen Simonian apologized on 
Thursday to “all citizens of Armenia” for spitting at an opposition activist who 
branded him a “traitor.”

“I'm sorry that I lost my cool because of the personal insult directed at me,” 
Simonian said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“In connection with this incident, I want to apologize to all CITIZENS of the 
Republic of Armenia,” he wrote.

Garen Megerdichian, the Canadian-Armenian activist who shouted the insult at 
Simonian on Sunday, is reportedly not an Armenian citizen, meaning that the 
speaker’s apology may not have been addressed to him.

Megerdichian says that Simonian ordered his bodyguards to overpower him and then 
spat in his face at a popular dining area of central Yerevan.

Simonian, who is also a senior member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil 
Contract party, has not denied spitting at Megerdichian. He was unrepentant 
about his behavior until the apology, saying that he was gravely insulted and 
responded accordingly.

Armenian opposition leaders have strongly condemned Simonian. Former President 
Levon Ter-Petrosian said on Tuesday that he must be ousted for his “unforgivable 
deed.”

Several civic groups added their voice to the condemnations on Wednesday. One of 
them also demanded that prosecutors open a “hooliganism” case against Simonian 
and investigate the legality of Megerdichian’s brief detention by police.

As of Thursday afternoon, Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General did not 
respond to the “crime report” submitted by the Union of Informed Citizens.

Neither Pashinian nor his party’s governing board has criticized Simonian over 
the incident.

Simonian, 43, is no stranger to controversy. In late 2021, he made disparaging 
comments about Armenian soldiers taken prisoner during the 2020 war with 
Azerbaijan, angering their families. Last year, Simonian defended his mother 
after she was caught on camera spitting at opposition protesters and showing the 
middle finger to them from the balcony of her Yerevan apartment.




Pashinian Clings To Caution After Fresh Azeri Territorial Gains


A new Azerbaijani army position outside the Armenian village of Tegh, March 31, 
2023.


Armenia should continue to exercise caution and avoid another escalation even 
after Azerbaijan’s occupation last week of more Armenian territory, Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Thursday.

Azerbaijani army units redeployed on March 30 to more parts of the Lachin 
district sandwiched between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, completing a change in 
the route of the Lachin corridor which began last August. Armenia’s National 
Security Service (NSS) said hours later that they advanced up to 300 meters into 
Armenian territory at five locations adjacent to the border village of Tegh.

Local government officials and farmers said Tegh lost a large part of its 
agricultural land and pastures. Some of them said the Azerbaijani military made 
bigger territorial gains than is admitted by official Yerevan.

The NSS claimed on April 1 that the situation in that border area “improved 
significantly” as a result of negotiations held by Armenian and Azerbaijani 
officials. Tegh residents countered, however, that the Azerbaijani troops did 
not retreat from any of their newly occupied positions.

Pashinian insisted that “the situation has somewhat improved.” Only a 
5-kilometer section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in the area has not been 
“ascertained” yet, he said, adding that the two sides are continuing to 
negotiate.

“Our intent has been and continues to be to avoid escalating the situation,” 
Pashinian said during a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.

Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a cabinet meeting, March 
16, 2023.

“Dear people, in this volatile and uncertain global environment, we need strong 
nerves and restraint in order not to succumb to forces interested in detonating 
the regional situation,” he went on. “Despite all the difficulties, the 
government of the Republic of Armenia tirelessly reaffirms its commitment to the 
peace agenda.”

Pashinian appealed to Armenians amid a continuing uproar caused by the 
Azerbaijani troop movements. The Armenian opposition has accused his 
administration of doing nothing to prevent the loss of yet another part of 
Armenia’s internationally recognized territory.

Opposition leaders say that the Armenian army should have taken up positions 
along the Armenian side of the border section ahead of the Azerbaijani advance. 
They say that instead of issuing such an order Pashinian declared on March 30 
that from now on the Tegh area will be patrolled and protected by NSS border 
guards, rather than army units.

Pashinian’s political opponents also blamed him for much bigger territorial 
losses suffered by Armenia during border clashes with Azerbaijan in May 2021 and 
September 2022. They regularly charge that he cannot defend the country and 
rebuild its armed forces after mishandling the disastrous 2020 war in Karabakh.




Russian Ban On Dairy Imports From Armenia Takes Effect

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Russia - A customer shops for dairy at an Auchan hypermarket in Novosibirsk, 
April 7, 2022.


Russia formally banned on Wednesday imports of dairy products from Armenia amid 
rising tensions between the two allied countries.

The Russian government’s Rosselkhoznadzor agriculture watchdog signaled such a 
measure last week, saying that Armenian dairy companies use Iranian raw 
materials banned in Russia. It said that Russia risks importing “low-quality and 
unsafe products” also because of a lack of “proper oversight” by relevant 
Armenian authorities.

A spokeswoman Armenia’s Food Safety Inspectorate (FSI) insisted that the Iranian 
raw materials are safe for consumption.

The ban took effect on Wednesday despite what the FSI described as continuing 
negotiations between the two sides. The government agency gave no details.

Khachatur Poghosian, the head of the Armenian Union of Dairy Producers, said 
that the Russian customs service began enforcing the ban even before its 
official entry into force. Armenian trucks laden with butter and other dairy 
items were turned away from a Russian-Georgian border checkpoint earlier this 
week, he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

Rosselkhoznadzor issued its first warning to the authorities in Yerevan four 
days Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for parliamentary 
ratification of the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty. The ruling 
in turn came one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian 
President Vladimir Putin over war crimes allegedly committed by Russia in 
Ukraine.

Moscow warned on March 27 that recognition of The Hague tribunal’s jurisdiction 
would have “extremely negative” consequences for Russian-Armenian relations. 
Those relations have deteriorated in recent months due to what Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian’s administration sees as a lack of Russian support for Armenia 
in the conflict with Azerbaijan.

Armenia - A cattle farm in the Vayots Dzor province, 29May2015.

Armenian Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian told reporters last week that he does 
not think Rosselkhoznadzor’s actions are politically motivated.

Suren Parsian, an economic analyst, suggested that there might be both political 
and sanitary reasons for them. He said the Russian watchdog last year examined 
Iranian milk imported by Armenian manufacturers and concluded that it does not 
meet safety standards set by the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

“The thing is that the Russian side repeatedly sent complains and the Armenian 
government simply ignored them,” said Parsian.

The likely economic cost of the Russian ban is not yet clear. Government data 
shows that Armenia exported 9,500 tons of dairy products (mostly butter) to 
Russia in 2021 and 2022.

According to Parsian, increased use of Iranian milk has turned Armenia into a 
net exporter of butter. Local butter exporters earned $18 million during the 
two-year period.

Dairy products make up a small share of overall Armenian exports to Russia which 
nearly tripled, to $2.4 billion, last year as a consequence of Western economic 
sanctions against Moscow.


Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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