12:17, 7 February 2024
BUDAPEST, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Vahagn Khachaturyan has met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest during his official visit.
The meeting took place at Orban’s office.
The Armenian President will then visit the Hungarian parliament to meet with Speaker László Kövér.
Khachaturyan held a meeting with Hungarian President Katalin Novák on February 6.
Armenia's defense strategy cannot rely on Russia as it used to, and Yerevan needs to more closely examine security relations with the U.S., France, India, and other countries, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Feb. 1, the Armenpress news agency reported.
The prime minister has previously said that Moscow has not proven to be a reliable security partner, as Russian "peacekeepers" failed to prevent Azerbaijan's offensive into the Nagorno-Karabakh region last September.
Baku formally dissolved the unrecognized ethnic Armenian republic in Nagorno-Karabakh on Jan. 1. Over 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled the region.
"Previously, 95-97% of our defense sector relations were with the Russian Federation. Now, it cannot be the same, for both objective and subjective reasons," Pashinyan told Armenian Public Radio when discussing Armenia's military reforms.
Yerevan should reassess the concept of its defense strategy and consider what role countries like the U.S., France, India, Iran, or Georgia play in it, the prime minister said.
The country must also decide whether to remain a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), he added.
As the rift between Armenia and Russia widens, Yerevan has been looking further west for allies, securing military aid from France.
Armenia also refused to participate in a CSTO summit in Minsk on Nov. 23, 2023, attracting criticism from Belarusian and Russian leaders.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova criticized Yerevan's overtures to the West, warning Pashinyan against "trying to sit on two chairs."
In the framework of further development of Kazakh-Armenian interaction, Ambassador Bolat Imanbayev met with Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan and Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan, Kazinform News Agency cites the press service of the Kazakh MFA.
The Armenian side was informed about the process of implementation of large-scale political, socio-economic and democratic reforms in Kazakhstan, as well as the content of the interview of the Head of State to Egemen Kazakhstan newspaper. During the meetings, background materials were presented on the indicators achieved in the key sectors of Kazakhstan's economy, measures to ensure human rights and the results of the years of Kasym-Jomart Tokayev's presidency.
During the talks with Minister of Economy of Armenia Kerobyan, the results of bilateral trade and economic cooperation in 2023 were summarized. Continued annual increase in the mutual trade turnover was noted, which in the first 11 months of 2023 showed an increase of 30% compared to the same period last year. The sides discussed issues related to the further expansion of trade and economic relations, in particular the measures to create mechanisms of interaction between Kazakh and Armenian businessmen. Interest was confirmed in holding the 10th regular meeting of the joint intergovernmental commission on economic co-operation this year. The Armenian side was provided with detailed information about the Astana International Forum June this year.
The high level of cooperation achieved in the cultural, humanitarian and sports spheres was emphasized at the meeting with the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia Andreasyan. The role of the Abay Centre established at the Yerevan State University, where necessary conditions are created for studying the Kazakh language, history and culture of the country, was especially noted. In this context, Minister Andreasyan expressed interest in opening a similar center in Kazakhstan. According to her, "it is a great opportunity for collaboration where student and faculty exchange programs can be organized". The sides also discussed the implementation of the bilateral program of cooperation in the field of culture for 2023-2025 and expressed readiness to sign the interministerial program of cooperation in the field of physical culture for 2024-2026. During the meeting the invitation of the Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan to take part in the 5th World Nomad Games to be held in Astana on 8-14 September this year was handed over to the Armenian side.
Following the meetings, the sides reaffirmed their commitment to further developing and strengthening the multifaceted partnership between the two countries.
The International Armenian Literary Alliance announced five new literary publications by Armenian authors, including Armen Davoudian’s “The Palace of Forty Pillars,” Leila Boukarim’s “Lost Words,” illustrated by Sona Avedikian, Tenny Minassian’s “Lucy Goes to The Gentle Barn,” illustrated by Agavny Vardanyan, stories about immigrant life in Little Armenia by Naira Kuzmich, and Manoug Hagopian’s “Life in the Armenian Community of Aleppo.”
Davoudian’s “The Palace of Forty Pillars” is a Publishers Weekly and The Rumpus’ most anticipated poetry book of 2024. According to poet Richie Hofmann, the book is “brilliant and deft and heartfelt.”
“In this formally radical debut, Armen Davoudian shows how rhyme enacts longing for a homeland left behind; how meter sings to a lost beloved; and how a combination of the two can map a self—or idea of the self—relinquished so that a new life, and all the happiness it deserves, can take shape,” said poet Paul Tran.
“Palace of Forty Pillars” book cover Author Armen Davoudian. Photo credit: Matthew Lansburgh
Wry, tender, and formally innovative, Davoudian’s debut poetry collection, “The Palace of Forty Pillars,” tells the story of a self estranged from the world around him as a gay adolescent, an Armenian in Iran, and an immigrant in America. It is a story darkened by the long shadow of global tragedies—the Armenian genocide, war in the Middle East, the specter of homophobia. With masterful attention to rhyme and meter, these poems also carefully witness the most intimate encounters: the awkward distance between mother and son getting ready in the morning, the delicate balance of power between lovers, a tense exchange with the morality police in Iran.
In Isfahan, Iran, the eponymous palace has only twenty pillars—but, reflected in its courtyard pool, they become forty. This is the gamble of Davoudian’s magical, ruminative poems: to recreate, in art’s reflection, a home for the speaker, who is unable to return to it in life.
Davoudian has an MFA from Johns Hopkins University and is a PhD candidate in English at Stanford University. His poems and translations from Persian appear in Poetry magazine, the Hopkins Review, the Yale Review, and elsewhere. His chapbook, “Swan Song,” won the Frost Place Competition. Armen grew up in Isfahan, Iran, and lives in Berkeley, California.
You can now pre-order “The Palace of Forty Pillars” (to be published on March 19, 2024) from the IALA Bookstore powered by Bookshop. Keep an eye on IALA’s website and socials for their second annual Literary Lights reading featuring Davoudian in 2024.
Leila Boukarim new picture book “Lost Words,” illustrated by Sona Avedikian, tells an Armenian story of survival and hope.
“Lost Words” book cover
“It is difficult to find the words to describe the type of loss a Genocide can cause to a young child. I’ve been looking for something similar for my own son. This picture book is a good start to help explain loss and raise the many questions necessary to start the conversation,” said Serj Tankian, activist, artist, and lead vocalist for System of a Down.
Based on a true family story, this inspiring picture book about the Armenian Genocide shares an often-overlooked history and honors the resilience of the Armenian people.
What is it like to walk away from your home? To leave behind everything and everyone you’ve ever known? Poetic, sensitive, and based on a true family history, “Lost Words: An Armenian Story of Survival and Hope” follows a young Armenian boy from the day he sets out to find refuge to the day he finally finds the courage to share his story.
Boukarim writes stories for children that inspire empathy and encourage meaningful discussions. She enjoys reading (multiple books at a time), embroidering, nature walking, and spending time with people, listening to their stories and sharing her own. Boukarim lives in Berlin, Germany.
Author Leila Boukarim Illustrator Sona Avedikian
Avedikian is an Armenian illustrator born in Beirut, Lebanon, and currently based in Detroit, Michigan. She loves creating vibrant work and often takes inspiration from Armenian art and architecture.
You can now pre-order “Lost Words” (to be published on March 26, 2024) from the IALA Bookstore powered by Bookshop. Keep an eye on IALA’s website and socials for their second annual Literary Lights reading featuring Leila Boukarim in conversation with Astrid Kamalyan in 2024.
Illustrated by Agavny Vardanyan, Tenny Minassian’s “Lucy Goes to The Gentle Barn,” based on a true story, follows Lucy, a rescue poodle-mix, as she goes on another adventure with her mom. This time they visit an animal sanctuary called The Gentle Barn.
“The Gentle Barn is a special place that not only rescues animals, but allows humans to heal by bonding with them. There is nothing more healing than hugging a cow,” said Tenny Minassian. “I wanted to share the story of our visit to The Gentle Barn because Lucy also rescued me. She saved my life when I was battling depression. I want children to know that even if we are different from each other, whether we are talking about humans or non-human animals, we can still be good friends.”
“Lucy Goes to The Gentle Barn” book cover
In 2015, a small poodle named Spring, was rescued from a shelter when she was pregnant with four puppies. Lucy was one of those puppies. Shortly after, she became an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) when her mom was struggling with her mental health. They saved each other!
Minassian is a vegan lifestyle coach, business consultant, and independent author living in Los Angeles, California with her Emotional Support Animal Lucy. She focuses on compassionate coaching and donates a portion of proceeds to nonprofit organizations helping animals, people, and the planet. She is an Armenian-American immigrant and came to the U.S. from Iran as a refugee with her family. Visit the website and follow on social media @VeganCoachTenny for more information on upcoming projects and events. Follow Lucy’s fun adventures on her Instagram account.
Vardanyan is an Armenian American character designer and prop artist based in Los Angeles, California. She’s a 2021 Summa Cum Laude graduate from Cal State Northridge with a BA in arts and concentration in animation. In addition to having recently worked as a full-time prop artist for HBO Max’s Fired on Mars, she’s also worked as a children’s book illustrator for GarTam Books and as print designer for New York Times and Indie Bestseller Allison Saft. She is currently working on her first graphic novel, “The Pomegranate Princess.” Learn more about Vardanyan here.
Author Tenny Minassian Illustrator Agavny Vardanyan
You can now purchase “Lucy Goes to The Gentle Barn” from the IALA Bookstore powered by Bookshop or Abril Bookstore. Part of the proceeds of this book will benefit The Gentle Barn, a national nonprofit with locations in Santa Clarita, CA, St. Louis, Missouri and Nashville, Tennessee.
Naira Kuzmich’s “In Everything I See Your Hand” will capture your heart with 10 brilliant stories about immigrant life in Little Armenia.
“Her writing was rich with Armenian culture, with old blood and the glittering black eyes of strong and deeply feminine women. . . . Since her passing in the fall of 2017, Naira’s talent has inspired me to tell her story to others. She’s caught the fears of many a stalled writer. ‘Here’s the issue,’ she wrote to me. ‘My window is closing.’ In every writer I’ve encouraged to finish their novel, their memoir, their history, I see her hand,” said Roz Foster, Naira’s former literary agent.
What’s the difference between leaving the motherland and leaving the literal mother? When does the journey toward self-possession become something closer to self-exile? Living daily in the tension between assimilation, disillusionment, and desire, the Armenian-American protagonists of “In Everything I See Your Hand” struggle with the belief that their futures are already decided, futures that can only be escaped through death or departure—if they can be escaped at all.
“In Everything I See Your Hand” book cover Naira Kuzmich
In these ten brilliant stories, Kuzmich spins variations of immigrant life in the Little Armenia neighborhood of Los Angeles. Kuzmich finished this collection before her death at age twenty-nine. Melding empathy, savvy, and candor through ardently wrought language, these stories are gifts that seduce, devastate, and shine.
Kuzmich was born in Armenia and raised in the Los Angeles en-clave of Little Armenia. Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in West Branch, Blackbird, Ecotone, The O. Henry Prize Stories 2015, The Threepenny Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Cincinnati Review, and elsewhere. She passed away in 2017 from lung cancer.
You can now purchase “In Everything I See Your Hand” from the IALA Bookstore powered by Bookshop.
Manoug Hagopian’s memoir in stories, “Life in the Armenian Community of Aleppo,” describes Armenians’ joys, griefs, and daily efforts to survive after they fled the 1915 massacres in a land that accepted them with open arms.
The writer shows that Armenians who arrived in Aleppo at the turn of the twentieth century did not stay idle as refugees, but continued their lives as they did in the Armenian-populated cities, towns, and villages they were born in. Their offspring then carried the torch of their parents and built their lives in Aleppo and other countries that they migrated to. Today, hardly any country in the world does not bear the mark of Armenians.
Hagopian was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1954. At sixteen, he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, and then to the United Arab Emirates, where he worked at the offices of various international companies. Hagopian and his late Cypriot wife, Rita, had two sons. Today, he lives with his sons in Nicosia, Cyprus.
The writer worked as a translator for about twenty-five years at various companies in the UAE and Cyprus. He originally wrote his book in the Armenian language and used his skills as a translator to translate his work into English. Both versions are available now.
Manoug Hagopian
Hagopian’s next book, “Life Within the Armenian Community of Cyprus,” in Armenian, will be published soon, to be followed by the English version. He will publish “Life Within the Armenian Community of the UAE,” both in Armenian and English.
You can now purchase “Life in the Armenian Community of Aleppo” on Amazon, and its original publication on Barnes & Noble.
29/01/2024
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby, was honoured to welcome His Holiness Karekin II, with Bishop Hovakim Manukyan, to the Old Palace, next to Canterbury Cathedral, for a morning meeting on Sunday .
The church leaders met three months ago in early October in Armenia, at the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, Armenia. The Archbishop’s visit took place against the backdrop of the recent invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijan, and the flight of almost the entirety of the region’s 120,000 Armenians to Armenia itself.
While he was in Armenia, the Archbishop spoke to many displaced refugee families housed in a church-run hostel supported by the Armenian church, hearing their stories.
At Sunday’s meeting in Canterbury, both leaders discussed once more the ongoing humanitarian crisis triggered by the invasion, including matters such as the welfare of prisoners and the protection of cultural heritage, and what assistance religious organisations and the international community might be able to offer. The Archbishop assured His Holiness of his prayers for the Armenian Church and its people.
https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/articles/archbishop-meets-his-holiness-karekin-ii-and-bishop-hovakim-canterbury
Executive Summary:
On January 19, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for a new constitution in a meeting with senior officials from the Armenian Ministry of Justice. Pashinyan asserted that Armenia needs “a new constitution, not constitutional changes,” adding that the new foundational document would make the country “more competitive and viable in the new geopolitical and regional environment” (Azatutyun.am, January 19). He highlighted that the new constitution would maintain the present parliamentary system and underscored “external security” and “internationally recognized sovereign territory” as the main issues to be addressed. Mutual respect for one another’s territorial integrity remains a sticking point in peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. If Yerevan proceeds with Pashinyan’s proposal, the new constitution would eliminate certain hurdles to signing a peace treaty with Baku.
Pashinyan’s plan is widely believed to be related to the normalization of Armenian relations with Azerbaijan and Türkiye. Azerbaijani officials and experts often argue that the current Armenian constitution contains territorial claims against Baku and Ankara. In 2021, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev referred to this as one of the main challenges to peace efforts in the South Caucasus. In an interview with a Turkish media channel, Aliyev declared, “There is a territorial claim against Türkiye in the Constitution of Armenia. They should abandon that. They need to revise and re-adopt their constitution. … They must give up their claims against Türkiye and Azerbaijan” (President.az, September 28, 2021).
Yerevan also has concerns about Azerbaijan respecting Armenia’s territorial integrity. On October 17, 2023, during a session of the European Parliament, Pashinyan stated, “Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity within [a land area of] 86,600 square kilometers. But the president of Azerbaijan has not responded in kind. … This has raised concerns among some analysts that he is deliberately maintaining some ambiguity in order to make territorial claims against Armenia” (TASS, October 17, 2023). Baku has tried to alleviate those concerns and, in December, signed a joint statement “reconfirming the intention to normalize relations and reach a peace treaty on the basis of respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity” (Euronews, December 7, 2023).
Pashinyan’s government seems to have accepted Baku’s worries and agrees with the necessity of unambiguously recognizing both countries’ territorial integrity. On January 20, during a meeting with members of his political party, Pashinyan stated that Armenia and Azerbaijan need to ensure that there will be no basis for the resurgence of territorial claims in the future. He declared, “Diplomatic texts always have different twists, subtexts, and footnotes. The footnotes of Azerbaijan’s proposals, and perhaps Azerbaijan in ours, observe the dangers of territorial claims, if not today, then in the future” (Armenpress.com, January 20).
The opening of the Zangezur Corridor has become a more contentious issue in this regard and threatens to derail the peace process. In an interview with local television channels on January 10, Aliyev stated that, if this corridor remains closed, Azerbaijan refuses to open its border with Armenia anywhere else (President.az, January 10). The Azerbaijani government expects Yerevan to provide “unimpeded” land passage between the western part of mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan exclave as envisioned under the November 2020 trilateral statement ending the Second Karabakh War. Baku insists that cargo, passengers, and vehicles should be subject to inspection and customs clearance only when they travel internationally, not between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan. Azerbaijan also expects Armenia to agree with the deployment of Russian border guards along the corridor.
Armenia has not agreed to these terms, while Russia agrees with only the second condition. Yerevan has proposed providing the Zangezur Corridor with the same regulations that would be applied to the trans-Iranian Aras Corridor (Armenpress.am, January 17). This is unacceptable to the Russian side, as Moscow wants Armenia to abide by the November 2020 trilateral statement. The Kremlin, however, rejects the Azerbaijani proposal for unchecked and customs-free passage along the Zangezur Corridor. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, such an arrangement had never been discussed in the earlier trilateral meetings of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Russian leaders (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (MID), January 18).
Lavrov also argues that Russian border guards should regulate transit along this land route, including customs and security checks. In a briefing on January 18, Lavrov said, “Armenia is having difficulty opening the route as laid out in the trilateral statement. Yerevan is putting forward additional security requirements for the route. It does not want Russian border guards to be there, though this is written in the statement that bears Pashinyan’s signature. He does not want to see non-aligned customs and border control. He wants Armenia to run it, which contradicts the agreement” (MID, January 18). Additionally, Lavrov criticized Western interference for blocking the implementation of the agreements reached by the regional countries.
Armenia and Azerbaijan appear to agree on the necessity for unequivocal recognition of one another’s territorial integrity to facilitate lasting peace in the region. The disputes concerning the Zangezur Corridor, however, may delay their efforts to sign a peace agreement in the near future. Further complicating matters, the Zangezur issue has wider geopolitical implications, directly involving Russia and indirectly involving the West. Baku realizes the disadvantages of this situation and calls for bilateral talks with Yerevan on all remaining issues between the two states, promoting the “regional solutions to regional problems” approach (see EDM, October 25, November 13, 27, 2023). The two republics of the South Caucasus may be unable to reach a peace treaty if they fail to neutralize the self-serving intervention of third parties.
https://jamestown.org/program/armenia-and-azerbaijan-address-concerns-over-territorial-integrity/
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has suggested the country needs an entirely new constitution, in a move critics have attributed to pressure from Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan first voiced his call for a new constitution on 18 January during a visit to the Ministry of Justice, claiming that the idea was previously discussed at the Ministry of Justice.
‘During one or two working discussions with the Minister of Justice, I recorded that in my opinion and that of a number of colleagues, and I am voicing this opinion so that it becomes the subject of a wider discussion, the Republic of Armenia needs a new Constitution, not Constitutional amendments, but a new Constitution’, said Pashinyan.
He cited two reasons for his proposal to adopt a new constitution: that Armenia’s constitution should be adopted by a fair referendum, and that the country needed a constitution that would make it ‘more competitive and more viable in the new geopolitical and regional conditions.’
‘I wanted to emphasise this so that we can devote ourselves to such work in the near future’, said Pashinyan.
During a meeting with his party in Yeghegnadzor on 20 January, Pashinyan elaborated that Yerevan and Baku had reached a point in peace talks where they wanted ‘additional guarantees’ that neither party ‘harbours territorial claims and hidden ambitions’.
‘Diplomatic texts always have different twists, subtexts, and footnotes. In the footnotes of Azerbaijan’s proposals, and perhaps Azerbaijan in ours, observe the dangers of territorial claims, if not today, then in the future,’ Pashinyan said.
The first paragraph of Armenia’s constitution states the country adopted the constitution is based on the ‘fundamental principles of the Armenian Statehood and the nation-wide objectives enshrined in Armenia’s Declaration of Independence.
One of the bases expressed in the declaration is a joint decision by the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Karabakh Council to ‘reunify the Armenian SSR and the Mountainous Region of Karabakh’.
The move by Pashinyan has been widely interpreted as related to ongoing peace talks with Azerbaijan and the aftermath of Azerbaijan taking control of Nagorno-Karabakh in September 2023.
Tigran Grigoryan, a political analyst and the head of the Regional Centre for Democracy and Security in Yerevan, said that Pashinyan’s calls for a new constitution could have stemmed from statements by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who in December said he expected guarantees from Yerevan against ‘Armenian revanchism’.
He cited an analysis of his from December, where he argued that ‘there is a high probability that one of the guarantees mentioned by Aliyev is that Yerevan gets rid of that normative legal background’.
Grigoryan cited Rusif Huseynov an Azerbaijani pro-government expert, as saying that Armenia’s legislation includes territorial claims against Azerbaijan, ‘and normative legal documents, such as the Declaration of Independence of Armenia adopted on 21 September 1990, refer to the 1989 joint decision on the unification of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh’.
‘This legal background causes concern in Azerbaijan, where scenarios are predicted in which the Armenian Constitutional Court may reject the peace treaty or a subsequent change of power may raise territorial claims’, wrote Huseynov.
Many in Armenia’s opposition have criticised the move. In a joint statement, four MPs from the opposition Armenia faction viewed Pashinyan’s statement as a veiled message to Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The four said that Ankara and Baku had long asked Armenia to remove ‘provisions on supporting the right of self-determination of the people of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] and pursuing the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.’
‘We note that with this step, Pashinyan is trying to initiate a new attack on one of the pillars of the Third Republic of Armenia, preparing the ground for the satisfaction of another of the incessant Turkish-Azerbaijani demands,’ read their statement.
09:37,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. Twenty-seven people were killed and 25 injured when Ukrainian forces shelled the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed head of the Donetsk region, said on Sunday.
Reuters cited Alexei Kulemzin, the city's Russian-installed mayor, as saying that Ukrainian forces bombarded a busy area where shops and a market are located. Pushilin said the city was shelled by Ukrainian artillery.
In his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy did not address the attack but said that in a single day, Russia had shelled more than 100 cities, towns and villages in nine regions in Ukraine, and that the attacks in Donetsk region had been "particularly severe."
Ukraine's forces in the Tavria, or southern zone, said in a Facebook post that soldiers under its command were not responsible. "Donetsk is Ukraine!" it said. "Russia will have to answer for taking lives of Ukrainians."
Pushilin said 18 of the injured were hospitalised and seven being treated as outpatients.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the attack "a barbaric act of terrorism" by Ukraine that was carried out "with the use of weapons supplied by the West".
The governor of the Ukrainian-controlled part of the region, Vadym Filashkin, said Russian attacks killed at least two people at two locations west of the city of Donetsk on Sunday.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned an attack on the city of Donetsk, but refused to pin the blame for the shelling that left at least 27 civilians dead and over two dozen injured, including several children.
The Secretary-General strongly condemns all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including today’s shelling of the city of Donetsk in Ukraine,” the spokesperson for the UN chief said in a brief statement on Sunday night.
“Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international humanitarian law, are unacceptable and must stop immediately,” it added.
12:15,
YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The EU Foreign Affairs Council, chaired by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, will discuss Armenia and Azerbaijan, among other issues, at its January 22 meeting in Brussels, the Council of the European Union said in a press release.
“The Foreign Affairs Council will discuss current affairs, during which ministers will be able to exchange views on recent events and on fast-moving developments in external relations. The High Representative will touch on Azerbaijan and Armenia in light of recent developments. He will touch on the need to enhance efforts on the normalisation process and on the ongoing work on strengthening EU-Armenia relations.
“After Azerbaijan’s military operation in Nagorno-Karabakh on 19-20 September 2023, the European Council on 26-27 October 2023 underlined its continued support for advancing a sustainable and lasting peace between the two countries, and expressed its support for the Brussels normalisation process. At the November 2023 Foreign Affairs Council, ministers agreed on stepping up EU support to Armenia by strengthening the EU Mission in Armenia (EUMA) and exploring options to provide non-lethal support to Armenia under the European Peace Facility as well as for a visa liberalisation dialogue. In December 2023, EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs held an informal exchange of views with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan and discussed how to strengthen EUArmenia relations, EU support to Armenia and the prospects for Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization,” reads the press release.