President Serzh Sarkisian used his Friday speech at a gathering of Russian diplomats’ training school graduates in Yerevan also to praise the controversial constitutional reform initiated by his administration that he said would increase the institutional role of Armenia’s opposition.
The Armenian government has decided to allocate a total of more than 1.8 billion drams, an equivalent of about $3.8 million, for the preparation and holding of a constitutional referendum due later this year.
It is expected that European Union foreign ministers will issue a mandate for starting talks with Armenia at their meeting in Luxembourg next week. The talks are due over a new agreement between Brussels and Yerevan.
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian lambasted some members of his cabinet on Thursday after they apparently greeted with skepticism an upbeat statement on the economic situation in Armenia made by Economy Minister Karen Chshmaritian.
The residents of Paravakar have stopped taking cover in their basements and other makeshift bomb shelters for the last few days, but life is still far from back to normal in this village on Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan.
Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian travelled to Nagorno-Karabakh on Tuesday following a fresh escalation of fighting around the disputed territory which left at least eight Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers dead.
The Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) has stepped up its hard currency interventions in an apparent effort to prevent a renewed depreciation of the national currency, the dram, as a result of downward pressures from Russia.
A member of the Constitutional Court questioned on Wednesday the wisdom of Armenia’s transition to a parliamentary system of government sought by President Serzh Sarkisian and his political allies.
Armenia’s economy will likely expand by only 1 percent this year, the government said on Wednesday in what amounted to a substantial downward revision of its earlier growth projections.
The Armenian government hopes that its forthcoming new accord with the European Union will be as similar to their scrapped Association Agreement as possible, First Deputy Economy Minister Garegin Melkonian said on Friday.
The United States and Armenia will likely sign a framework agreement on bilateral trade and investments during President Serzh Sarkisian’s visit to Washington this week, a senior U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday.
A radical opposition group targeted by the Armenian authorities has called a halt to its campaign of anti-government rallies in Yerevan, admitting its failure so far to drum up popular support.
President Serzh Sarkisian has expressed hope that senior U.S. officials will visit Armenia on April 24 to attend official commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the new U.S. ambassador in Yerevan said on Friday.
The European Union and Armenia have yet to agree on a new legal framework for their closer relations that would not run counter to the South Caucasus country’s recent accession to a Russian-led alliance, according to officials in Brussels.
Citing a nationwide shock caused by the massacre in Gyumri, Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) cancelled on Tuesday a conference that was due to clarify the future of its anti-government campaign conducted jointly with opposition allies.
John Heffern, the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, praised the Armenian government on Friday for lifting the visa requirement for visitors from the United States, saying that the move will boost relations between the countries.
Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian appealed to the Central Bank of Armenia (CBA) on Friday to crack down on “speculative” currency trading in the local market on Friday as the Armenian dram depreciated further against the U.S. dollar.
The extent of government corruption in Armenia has practically not changed and remained quite high over the past year, according to an annual global survey released by Transparency International on Wednesday.
The Armenian military will not step in to help the government quell possible opposition protests threatening President Serzh Sarkisian’s hold on power, Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian said on Tuesday.
John Heffern, the U.S. ambassador in Yerevan, said on Thursday that he has discussed with Armenian officials the plight of ethnic Armenians remaining in Syria in the context of planned U.S. air strikes against Islamic State militants operating there.
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