Category: 2019

Panorama, Armenia

Jan 30 2019

Armenian military upgrades vehicle fleet

17:36,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian military continues accepting supplies of armaments and military equipment as part of both previous and newly signed agreements, the defense ministry said.

The ministry said that the latest batch of vehicular equipment is envisaged for upgrading the military’s auto fleet, increasing the combat-readiness of units and safe transportation of personnel.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

NK conflict must be settled exclusively peacefully, reiterates Armenia

17:38,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS. The Republic of Armenia has not changed its stance in the NK conflict settlement issue – according to FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan the issue must be resolved exclusively peacefully.

The FM made the remarks during a joint news conference today with EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn.

“The decider of Nagorno Karabakh’s status are the NK people. We have resolve to defend both Nagorno Karabakh, and Armenia. We know our capabilities, but we want to settle this process in a peaceful way,” Mnatsakanyan said.

Asked on the possibility of meeting his Azerbaijani counterpart during the upcoming Munich Security Conference, or whether PM Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev might meet at the event, the FM said that nothing is yet decided neither on this issue nor on Pashinyan’s participation at the conference.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

Pashinyan highlights EU assistance to democratic reforms in Armenia in a meeting with Johannes Hahn

18:06,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS.  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn on January 29.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister of Armenia, greeting the delegation led by the EU Commissioner, Pashinyan noted that Armenia highlights deepening of the cooperation with the EU. The Prime Minister highly assessed the EU support to the development of democracy in Armenia and reform process and added that Armenia is ready to continue the partnership in the sidelines of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. “Democracy is a value for our society, conviction, but not a geopolitical orientation. In this context we highlight the EU assistance to the democratic reforms taking place in Armenia”, Nikol Pashinyan said.

Referring to the December 9, 2018 parliamentary elections, the Armenian PM said that the elections were free and transparent, which was recorded by the international observers and Armenia confidently moves forward in the direction of democratic development. The PM emphasized that economic revolution is on the agenda of the Government.

Johannes Hahn noted that the EU highlights permanent development of relations with Armenia and is ready to foster the implementation of reforms in various spheres.

The sides highlighted the importance of strengthening the independent judicial system.

Nikol Pashinyan noted that Armenia highlights cooperation with all the partners and consistent development of cooperation in the sidelines of integration unions, emphasizing the importance of deepening Armenia-EAEU and Armenia-EU economic relations.

The Armenian PM and the EU Commissioner exchanged views on regional issues, including Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Pashinyan, Medvedev hold telephone conversation

18:13,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS.  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan held a telephone conversation with Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Armenian PM, the interlocutors discussed a range of issues related to cooperation in the sidelines of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as bilateral cooperation.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

MoD Armenia, Kalashnikov Concern clarify details on joint production of new assault rifles

18:39,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS.  Defense Minister of Armenia Davit Tonoyan received on January 29 the delegation led by General Director of "Kalashnikov" Concern Andrei Baryshnikov.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Armenia, greeting the guests, Minister Tonoyan highlighted the cooperation of Armenian military industrial companies with “Kalashnikov” Concern and expressed readiness to support all the initiatives aimed at the joint military production.  

Congratulating on Army Day and thanking for the invitation to participate in the official reception dedicated to the 27tha anniversary of the establishment of the Armenian army, Baryshnikov presented to the Armenian Defense Minister the implementation process of the initiatives with Armenian partners in the sidelines of CSTO cooperation. Particularly, the General Director of "Kalashnikov" Concern informed that final details of the production of new assault rifles have already been clarified.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Armenian FM, EU Commissioner highly assess progress in Armenia-EU relations

19:57,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS.  Foreign Minister of Armenia Zohrab Mnatsakanyan Pashinyan received Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Johannes Hahn on January 29. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, the sides highly assessed the major progress recorded in Armenia-EU relations in the recent months.

The interlocutors discussed Armenia-EU multilayered agenda in detail, emphasizing the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as a key legal base regulating bilateral relations.

In this context Zohrab Mnatsakanyan noted that the CEPA is an important tool for fostering the development agenda of the Armenian Government, emphasizing the strengthening of democratic institutions of the country.

The Armenian FM and the EU Commissioner assessed the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership initiative a good opportunity for summing up the achievements of the initiative and outline future activities.

During the meeting the sides exchanged views on a number of pressing international and regional issues, a special attention was paid to the situation in Syria and the recent developments over Iran.

FM Mnatsakanyan presented to Johannes Hahn the recent developments over Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement process, the approaches and position of Armenia on NK conflict settlement.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Nikol Pashinyan, Anna Hakobyan attend concert dedicated to 150th anniversary of Komitas

20:07,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 29, ARMENPRESS.  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan attended the concert giving start to the events dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Komitas at Aram Khachaturian concert hall.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister, Armenian National Academic Choir led by conductor Hovhannes Chekijian performed during the concert.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

Recap of Armenia-Germany ties ahead of PM Pashinyan’s official visit

09:01,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 30, ARMENPRESS. As Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is expected to pay an official visit to Germany today, ARMENPRESS has recapped the Armenian-German political and economic ties and updated statistics.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in January of 1992. Since then, Armenia has paid more than two dozen official visits to Germany on the presidential, prime ministerial and foreign ministerial levels. And since 1995, official visits from Germany to Armenia took place on the levels of Speaker of Parliament, Deputy PM and FM.

Angela Merkel’s visit to Armenia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Armenia in August of 2018.

During an official dinner in honor of Merkel, PM Nikol Pashinyan noted that the sides had very important and productive negotiations. He expressed convictions that all agreements will be coherently and in a principled manner be fulfilled one by one, which will mean a new chapter in the relations between Armenia and Germany.

In turn, Merkel noted that the German government wants to accompany Armenia on the path of brave changes and support further developments in the country.

Chancellor Merkel reiterated support to reforms in Armenia after the December 2018 early election of parliament. The German Chancellor noted that she would be happy to once again have a meeting with PM Pashinyan in the nearest future.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, Armenia and Germany have signed more than 40 agreements concerning the economy, education, culture and trade. Cooperation memorandums have been signed in various sectors.

Armenia launches dialogue over visa liberalization with EU member states

The dialogue began as part of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the EU and Armenia that was signed in November 2017.

Earlier in January this year, Deputy Police Chief of Armenia Colonel Hovhannes Kocharyan visited Germany and held multiple meetings with local authorities. During the meetings the German side praised the productive cooperation on the basis of international legal documents concerning readmission, emphasizing the high level of mutual confidence and willingness to support Armenia’s expectations.

The sides also highlighted the need to specify the timeframes and circle of mutual obligations of future action plan of visa liberalization.

Economic indicators

In 2017, as well as in January-November of 2018, Germany has been the 4th main trading partner of Armenia.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments, Germany is Armenia’s leading trading partner from the EU in accordance to data from 2017 and 2018.

Trade turnover in January-November 2018 totaled 402,1 million dollars – a 38% growth compared to the previous year.

In structural terms of the mutual trade foreign trade, more products are imported from Germany than exported from Armenia.

Main Armenian exports to Germany include copper, aluminum foil, textile products and alcoholic beverages, while top customs-value imports from Germany to Armenia include passenger and cargo vehicles, pharmaceuticals, tractors, food processing equipment, printing equipment and others.

More than ten major companies with German capital operate in Armenia. The companies operate in mining, light industry, imports and sales of cars and construction materials, IT, asset management and other sectors.

Business Armenia Foundation told ARMENPRESS that Armenian-German business visits are planned in 2019.

Recognition of Armenian Genocide

On June 15, 2005, the German parliament adopted a decision about recognizing the Armenian Genocide. On April 23, 2015, then-President of Germany Joachim Gauck delivered a statement about the Armenian Genocide, and on June 2, 2016, the German parliament adopted a resolution on recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

During the 2018 visit to Armenia, Chancellor Merkel visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Yerevan with FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan and paid tribute to the memory of the victims.

By Anna Gziryan

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan