Author: Meline Chalian

Armenian caretaker PM’s meetings in France kick off

 09:41, 1 June, 2021

YEREVAN, JUNE 1, ARMENPRESS. The working meetings of Armenia’s caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his delegation are launching in France, Armenpress correspondent reports from Paris.

The meetings will focus on issues relating to the Armenian-French bilateral political, economic ties, the opportunities of solving the Armenian-Azerbaijani border situation, as well as the further settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The meetings will firstly kick off in the French National Assembly with Speaker Richard Ferrand.

The next station is the Élysée Palace where Pashinyan is scheduled to meet with President of France Emmanuel Macron. The meeting will be followed by a luncheon on behalf of the French President.

Thereafter, Pashinyan will meet with Speaker of the Senate of France Gérard Larcher. At the end of the meeting the caretaker PM will leave a note at the Senate’s Golden Book.

Pashinyan will also meet with the representatives of the Armenian community.

No hand-shaking is planned during the meetings of official delegations because of coronavirus.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:09,

YEREVAN, MAY 20, ARMENPRESS. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the talks with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken constructive, reports TASS.

“The conversation seemed to me constructive. There is an understanding of the need to overcome the unhealthy situation that developed between Moscow and Washington in previous years”, the Russian Foreign Minister said following talks with his American counterpart.

Moscow confirmed its readiness to hold the dialogue on strategic stability with the US and to discuss all aspects and factors influencing it, Washington did not reject such a concept, Russian Foreign Minister noted.

“Today we confirmed our proposal to start a dialogue, considering all aspects, all factors affecting strategic stability: nuclear, non-nuclear, offensive, defensive. I have not seen a rejection of such a concept, but experts still have to work on it”, he said.

 13:39,

YEREVAN, MAY 19, ARMENPRESS. In response to Russia’s proposal to launch delimitation and demarcation works, Armenia has emphasized the necessity of the Azeri troops withdrawing from Armenian sovereign territory before starting that work, and then only the conditions will be created for such discussions, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan told ARMENPRESS when asked to present Armenia’s position on Russia’s proposal to start the delimitation and demarcation work between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“We highly appreciate the Russian side’s efforts for contributing to the resolution of the situation, by expressing readiness to continue close cooperation, at the same time we underscore that the complete preservation of territorial integiry cannot be subject of discussion for the Republic of Armenia. We note that the Azerbaijani side’s latest actions are explicitly aimed at not implementing its own obligations assumed under the 2020 November 9 and 2021 January 11 statements by the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan,” he added.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 17:19,

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, which is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Pashinyan’s Office told Armenpress.

Pashinyan presented the recent developments on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. He stated that the Azerbaijani side, by violating all norms of international law, has illegally crossed the border and entered into Armenia’s sovereign territory. Pashinyan drew the attention of the Belarusian President on the necessity of properly discussing the issue within the CSTO and combining the positions of the CSTO states over the incident.

President Lukashenko expressed his concerns over the situation and his readiness for making efforts aimed at peacefully solving the situation.

According to the Belarusian Presidential Office, Lukashenko and Pashinyan have also discussed the domestic situation in Belarus and Armenia, exchanged views on the current agenda, the existing challenges and threats.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 09:40,

YEREVAN, MAY 11, ARMENPRESS. Education authorities say 2021 will see “significant work” in the direction of introducing universal inclusive education system in Armenian preschools. The transition will be phased, according to the deputy education minister Zhanna Andreasyan.

The training of preschool employees, development of modules and relevant toolbox, as well as awareness campaigns will take place this year, and starting from 2022 the universal inclusive principle will be launched in the provinces of Syunik, Lori, Tavush and in Yerevan. The other remaining provinces will shift to the new system in 2023.

“The important part here is for the preschools to be attached to the regional pedagogical-psychological support centers so that it’s clear which centers are working with the preschools. Therefore, we are also going to change the funding procedure of these centers taking into account that they are going to render services to the preschools. The new procedure is in the final stage of circulation and is submitted to the prime minister’s office,” Zhanna Andreasyan, the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport told ARMENPRESS.

Since the law envisages funding increase for including children with special needs to preschools, the education authorities have also developed and introduced a new funding procedure, which is already submitted to the prime minister’s office as well.

“These changes will enable to improve the conditions on one hand from professional perspective and on the other in terms of infrastructure. I attach much importance to awareness campaigns. We must ensure broad public awareness so that citizens get informed and benefit from these opportunities. Training of preschool employees is also important, annually at least 1/5th of the employees must undergo training and this is going to be a mandatory component in the inclusive system,” Andreasyan said.

Andreasyan reiterated that the government’s policy in this sector is to raise and enhance the quality of preschools. She mentioned the recent Cabinet decision which authorized the construction of 10 modular kindergartens with modern infrastructures in full compliance with needs of children. Andreasyan says the 21 preschools which were opened across Armenia in 2020 are all equipped to meet the needs of children with special needs.

“We must have the kind of conditions that parents of children with special needs have the opportunity to take their child to any kindergarten they want. The same goes for schools.”

Speaking about stereotypes regarding inclusiveness among the society, Andreasyan says some change is observed in the recent years, albeit insufficient.

Reporting by Anna Gziryan

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan

 15:47,

YEREVAN, MAY 12, ARMENPRESS. The situation over the Armenian borders in Syunik province is under the spotlight of the Human Rights Defender, the Ombudsman’s Office said in a statement.

“The Ombudsman notes that the issues relating to borders understandably have a high public interest and sensitivity, and the public in its turn has a right to get complete, clear and reliable information about the situation on time.

Therefore, the competent authorities should make all efforts to spread as broadly as possible the official information in the media field, thus by ruling out the spread of disinformation.

In line with this, the Office of the Ombudsman has also detected disinformation which creates panic and tension concerning the borders of Armenia. The Ombudsman urges the media outlets and social network users to refrain from spreading such reports.

Both the Ombudsman personally and his staff are in touch with the community and state administration bodies, and necessary actions are also being taken within the jurisdictions of the Ombudsman”, the statement says.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan

 11:11, 4 May, 2021

STEPANAKERT, MAY 4, ARMENPRESS. 6 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been confirmed in the Republic of Artsakh in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 2,679.

50 coronavirus tests have been carried out on May 3, the ministry of healthcare of Artsakh said.

Currently, 21 infected patients receive treatment in hospitals.

On April 19 the vaccinations against COVID-19 have launched in Artsakh.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan