Author: Karapet Navasardian

                                        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
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