Armenian President: I can see clearly what I should do to serve the country

November 9, 2018 By administrator

“I do not think that the conclusions should be made based on this or that statement, because politics, especially regional politics, is a dynamic process, and this is not about the US-Armenia relations but the US-region relations,” Armenian President Armen Sargsyan said, referring to the recent visit of the US President’s advisor John Bolton to South Caucasus and his statements on Iran and other issues.

“I have not met with Mr. Bolton personally because I was in the United States during that time, but I think and advise not to draw conclusions because the processes are fast, changeable, and we have to wait, in the near future, to see what the US the policy will be like the region, “the Armenian President said.
Referring to the possibility of expanding the powers of the President, Armen Sargsyan mentioned that he did not attach big significance to it.

“When I received the offer to become president, the Constitution I had in front of me was very clear. It provides a clear record on the duties of the RA President. It’s not important in fact whether these duties will be somewhat less or somewhat more, because I clearly see what I must do to serve the country, “the Armenian President emphasized.

Interesting Development: Armenian President made unannounced visit to Moscow to clarify recent developments

October 14, 2018 By administrator

Russian Kommersant reports that Armenian President Armen Sarkissian was in Moscow in the beginning of this week and conducted meetings with the Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Minister, Grigory Karasin. According to the source, the sides discussed Russian-Armenian relations, current situation in Armenia before possible parliamentary elections as well as the situation with Secretary-General of CSTO, Yuri Khachaturov.

Armen Sarkissian made the visit on his way back to Armenia from the trip to New York and Paris. Announcements about this trip were not released, as it was a non-official visit.

Director of the Center for European Studies, Artur Ghazinyan talked to Kommersant stating that while according to the new constitution the authorities of the president in foreign affairs are limited, Armen Sarkissian in fact, is the diplomatic emissary of RA, helping the new authorities of the country to establish contacts with key partners. “His great experience in the field of foreign affairs gives him the opportunity to do so and the lack of experience in the new government supports that”, stated Ghazinyan.

He is sure that the discussions in Moscow were coordinated with the Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, and supposes that the main aim of the meetings was to clarify the recent political developments in Armenia to the Russian side as the confrontation between the new authorities and its opposition still continues in the country.

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian commented on the announcement by the Russian press stating that he is very happy about the entire visit to Moscow and the conducted meetings. “It was a very pleasant dinner”, said Sarkissian about the meeting with Lavrov, announces Sputnik Armenia.

President provided no further details.

Earlier it was announced that Armenian President Armen Sarkissian will soon make a statement about “Making Amendments and Addenda to the Constitutional Law of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly” Armenian law.

https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3770660

‘I have had no profit in Amulsar project and no connection with ‘Lydian’ company’: Armenian President Armen Sarkissian

July 9, 2018 By administrator

Author Luiza Sukiasyan

Armenian President Armen Sarkissian touched upon the issue of exploitation of Amulsar mine, describing it as “a painful issue” at the third forum titled “Democracy, Security and Foreign Policy” in the “Armenian Institute for International and Security Affairs”. Armen Sarkissian first emphasized that the water preservation is very important for Armenia, whereas the waters of the Ararat valley are wasted for fish farming. “Eduardo Eurnekian told me that he has a wineyard of 400 hectares but does not increase the production volumes because of water loss… a school and a church have been built in Echmiadzin by my investment, but the walls are cracked,

as the balance of the deep wells has been changed”, said Armen Sarkissian. Referring to the Amulsar issue the President noted: “Amulsar is in a sensitive area, and if the water is polluted, we will face serious problems. We cannot allow mining industry to pollute water, the most important natural resource”. As for his possible connections with the “Lydian” company, exploiting the Amulsar mine, Armen Sarkissian noticed that the media had written as if he was the director of the company, which was misinformation.

“I have been a member of an independent board of directors, but my family and I have had no profit of even a penny. It is defined by law. Then I got acquainted with mine exploitation documents and left the board of directors. Of course, based on ethics, I cannot publish what I have written about these documents. I had no connection with “Lydian”, Armen Sarkissian summed up.

Blogger Alexander Lapshin meets with Armenian president in Washington

June 27, 2018 By administrator

Alexander Lapshin meets with Armenian president

Alexander Lapshin, the Russian-Israeli blogger convicted and later released in Azerbaijan over a visit to the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic, has met with Armenian President Armen Sarkissian in Washington.

The blogger shared details of the meeting on Facebook, describing it as a “pleasant surprise”.

“As I was in Washington, I chanced to meet with the president of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, who turned out a surprisingly open and joyful personality,” he said, adding that president looked to be devoid of all the formalities normally typical to country leaders.

Belarusian law enforcement authorities arrested Lapshin in 2016 based on an earlier request by Azerbaijan (which had included the blogger into its black list for the trip to the second Armenian republic).On February 7 2017, the Supreme Court of Belarus rejected Lapshin’s appeal and extradited the him to Baku based on a decision by the Prosecutor General’s Office. Later the same day, Lapshin was flown to the Azerbaijani capital, accompanied by officers of the Belarusian State Security Committee.

The Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced the blogger to three years in prison on July 20.

On September 11 2017, he was pardoned under President Ilham Aliyev’s decree.

Armenian President meets with heads of major French enterprises in Paris

June 26, 2018 By administrator

YEREVAN, JUNE 26, On the sidelines of his visit to Paris from June 24 to 25, President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian met with heads of more than 20 major French enterprises, including Dassault systems, Channel, Crédit Agricole Bank, Aéroport de Paris, Lactalis group, CNIM, Egis-Group, Surys and etc, the Presidential Office told Armenpress

During the meetings President Sarkissian introduced Armenia’s investment environment, in particular, the recent political changes in Armenia, under the light of the reforms by the new leadership aimed at creating an equal and legal business environment. The President affirmed the leadership’s readiness and commitment to create necessary favorable conditions for foreign investments in Armenia.

Armen Sarkissian highlighted the attraction to invest in Armenia with the potential and possibility to enter the markets of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Iran.

President Sarkissian also touched upon the economic forum which will be held this year in October on the sidelines of the Francophonie summit in Yerevan and invited the enterprises to bring their active participation to the event.

Washington DC: Armenian President Armen Sarkissian speech

June 26, 2018 By administrator

Washington DC: Armenian President Armen Sarkissian speech

Washington DC: Armenian President Armen Sarkissian speech hosted by ANCA and the Embassy of Armenia. why celebrate 100 Republic? because without it the second and third republic would not have existed said, president Sarkissian.

Armenian president hosts ambassadors of Arab countries

May 4, 2018 By administrator

Armenian president hosts ambassadors of Arab Countries

President Armen Sarkissian of Armenia on Friday received the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon and chargés d’affaires of Kuwait and Iraq in Armenia.

The officials discussed issues related to the bilateral agenda, especially the expansion of the economic cooperation, the presidential office told Panorama.am.

President Sarkissian expressed his gratitude to the diplomats for the warm attitude displayed toward the Armenian communities in their countries, which allows them not only to preserve their national identity but also develop and actively participate in the political and socio-economic lives of the countries.

The sides weighed in on the current political situation in Armenia. The diplomats expressed hope that everything will be settled within the framework of the Constitution and law, highlighting the respective efforts of Armenia’s president to that end.

Armenian President receives Greek National Defense Minister

March 29, 2018 By administrator

Armenian President receives Greek National Defense

YEREVAN.- Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan received on Thursday the Minister of the National Defense of the Hellenic Republic, Panagiotis (Panos) Kammenos, the press service of the President’s office reported.

Greeting the guest and underlining that Armenian-Greek ties date back to millennia ago with numerous demonstrations of friendship, the President of the Republic assessed it natural that the high level of mutual understanding and trust is characteristic for the relations of the two peoples.

Serzh Sargsyan noted with pleasure that defense cooperation has become one of the pillars of Armenian-Greek relations.
The sides noted with satisfaction that high level visits have become more frequent during the last years.

The President recalled with warmth his state visit to Greece in 2016 and asked Minister Kammenos to convey his warm greetings and best wishes to the Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras and President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
President Sargsyan and Minister Kammenos expressed satisfaction over the current high level of defense cooperation between the two countries.

Serzh Sargsyan once again expressed gratitude to the Greek Government for the support in the spheres of military and civil education, noting that it’s a big contribution to the strengthening of friendship, since the youth who get education in Greece will foster the development of bilateral relations.

During the meeting the sides also referred to the ArmHiTech exhibition held in Yerevan, which was also attended by the Greek Defense Minister. The interlocutors assessed the exhibition a good opportunity to get acquainted with the achievements of the participating countries and to strengthen military-technical cooperation.

Panos Kammenos noted that the joint efforts with his Armenian counterpart aimed at expanding cooperation in the defense sphere continue

What are the powers of New Armenian president?

March 2, 2018 By administrator

powers of Armenian president

YEREVAN. – Armenia will shift to the parliamentary system of government starting April when the powers of the incumbent president will expire, the amended Constitution of Armenia says.

For the first time the president is elected by the National Assembly. The newly elected president of Armenia will have more limited powers and the prime minister in fact will be the first statesman in the country.

What is the status of a new president?

According to Article 123 of the amended Constitution, the President of the Republic shall be the head of the State. The President of the Republic shall observe the compliance with the Constitution. In the course of exercising his or her powers, the President of the Republic shall be impartial and shall be guided exclusively by state-wide and nation-wide interests.

The President of the Republic shall perform his or her functions through the powers prescribed by the Constitution.

Under the previous Constitution, the president had to be the guarantor of the independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Armenia. The new president does not have these powers.

How the president is elected?

According to the new Constitution, the president is elected for a term of seven years, while previously the president was elected for five years. The same person may be elected as a president only once. The new president may not hold any other position, engage in entrepreneurial activities or perform other paid work. He may not hold membership in any political party.

Everyone having attained the age of forty, having held citizenship of only the Republic of Armenia for the preceding six years, having been permanently residing in the Republic of Armenia for the preceding six years, having the right of suffrage and having command of the Armenian language may be elected as President of the Republic.

The candidate having received at least three fourths of votes of the total number of Deputies shall be elected as President of the Republic.

What powers will the new president have?

The President of the Republic shall sign and promulgate a law adopted by the National Assembly within a period of twenty-one days, or shall apply within the same time period to the Constitutional Court for the purpose of determining the compliance of the law with the Constitution. The president has no right to dissolve the National Assembly as well as to appoint early elections.

The President can immediately accept the resignation of the Government and make changes in the composition of the government upon recommendations of the Prime Minister.

Foreign Policy

President can conclude conclude international treaties, upon recommendation of the government. He is authorized to appoint and recall diplomatic representatives to foreign states and international organisations, upon recommendation of the Prime Minister, to receive the letters of credence and letters of recall of diplomatic representatives to foreign states and international organizations, to approve, suspend or revoke international treaties not requiring ratification.

Armed Forces

According to the new Constitution, the president can appoint and dismiss the supreme command of the armed forces and of other troops under recommendation of the Prime Minister. He can confer the highest military ranks.

President is no longer the supreme commander of the Armed Forces and in the event of the war, the Prime Minister will confer the powers.

When will the new president assume the office?

The President can immediately accept the resignation of the Government and make changes in the composition of the government upon recommendations of the Prime Minister.

Foreign Policy

Armed Forces

President is no longer the supreme commander of the Armed Forces and in the event of the war, the Prime Minister will confer the powers.

When will the new president assume the office?

The new president will take office on April 9. The president will take oath of office at a special session of the parliament on the same day.

Paris Macron welcomes Armenia president at Élysée Palace

January 23, 2018 By administrator

PARIS. – President of France Emmanuel Macron welcomed his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan at the Elysee Palace on Tuesday.

The ceremony will be followed by a tête-à-tête meeting and a working dinner, Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent reports from Paris. The presidents are also expected to meet the media.

President Serzh Sargsyan is on a three-day visit to Paris.