EU authorized Commission to open negotiations on new agreement with Armenia

October 12, 2015 By administrator

The EU Foreign Affairs Council authorized the European Commission and the High Representative to open negotiations on a new, legally binding and overarching agreement with Armenia.

The decision has been adopted during the EU ministers during their meeting on Monday.

This agreement will replace the current EU-Armenia partnership and cooperation, Virginie Battu-Henriksson, press officer for foreign affairs and development cooperation, said in a response to inquiry by Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The EU is committed to further develop and strengthen comprehensive cooperation with Armenia in all areas of mutual interest within the Eastern Partnership framework. The official launching of negotiations is envisaged to take place before the end of the year.

European Parliament Member to Ask European Commission to Denounce Azerbaijani ‘Act of War’

September 26, 2015 By administrator

BRUSSELS (ARMENPRESS)—Vice Chair of the Europe Ecologie-The Greens Group and member of the European Parliament Michele Rivasi expressed her concerns over the latest ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan which resulted in the death of three civilians in Armenia border settlements. Rivasi represents South East France for The Greens political party in the European Parliament.

Rivasi spoke to an Armenpress correspondent in Brussels and said that she was “scandalized” by the violence.

“I am scandalized by this violence. We know of the historical enmity which exists between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, but this time it directly concerns Armenia,” Rivasi said.

“I will ask the European Commission to denounce this act of violence, this act of war. It is unacceptable. This is a provocation which resulted in the death of three women which is completely unacceptable.”

“The European Commission has to react to the actions of Azerbaijan,” said Rivasi.

Rivasi continued her strong condemnation of Azerbaijan’s provocations, echoing statements made by Armenian officials that Azerbaijan’s actions were an attempt to halt negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“This is done to provoke Armenia and to get [a] reaction from Armenia. That would be the beginning of the end. The European Commission has to denounce the acts of Azerbaijan and also to sanction them. I find this unacceptable and very grave.”

“This is a way to prevent any negotiations. An encounter [between the foreign ministers] was planned and this is a sterile provocation which can be very dangerous for the future.”

“I want everybody to calm down and I want the commission to react in regards to this. This is not only a matter between Armenia and Azerbaijan. European and international institutions have to denounce these acts,” Rivasi said.

“Two civilians were killed and two were injured due to rival shooting in Berdavan community of Tavush region on September 24. Sona Revazyan, 1974, and Shushan Asatryan, 1921, are the victims. Earlier it became known that in another bordering community of T

BREAKING NEWS E.U. approves migrant plan, overruling four nations

September 22, 2015 By administrator

European Union ministers on Tuesday approved a plan for individual countries in the bloc to accept a share of the hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking asylum on the continent — but only after overruling four former Soviet bloc countries.
The home affairs and interior ministers, meeting in an emergency session here, voted on a plan to apportion 120,000 refugees — still only a small fraction of those flowing into Europe — among members of the European Union.
The dissenters were the ministers representing the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. Under European law, three of the countries — the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia — would be required to accept migrants against their will, said one European Union diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity shortly after the vote.
The idea behind the plan is to relieve the pressure on front-line nations like Italy and Greece, which migrants from the Middle East, Afghanistan and African have been flooding.
France and Germany back a compulsory approach to resettling refugees. But a call for the members to share the burden of absorbing the migrants according to the wealth and population of the member countries met with fierce resistance. The squabbling has highlighted the lack of a united European response to one of the worst humanitarian crises in decades.
Source: nytimes.com

Armenian FM receives newly appointed head of EU delegation to Armenia

September 17, 2015 By administrator

Newly appointed Head of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Armenia, Ambassador Piotr Switalski presented the copies of his credentials to Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian.

Mr Nalbandian congratulated Mr Switalski on his appointment and wished his successful activities. The Armenian FM expressed hope that Mr Switalski will contribute to the expansion of Armenia’s comprehensive cooperation with the EU.

Mr Switalski thanked Mr Nalbandian and assured him that he will spare no effort to strengthen the bilateral partnership.

The sides discussed the implementation of agreements reached during president of the European Council Donald Franciszek Tusk’s visit to Armenia, as well as a wide range of issues related to the Armenia-EU cooperation.

The sides expressed hope for negotiations over a new legal document between Armenia and the EU, which will give new impetus to the bilateral relations.

Mr Nalbandian presented to Mr Switalski the events marking the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.

The sides also discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process.

EU Foreign Ministers discuss Armenian-Azerbaijani relations

September 7, 2015 By administrator

The relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and several other issues were included on the agenda of the two-day meeting of EU Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy said.

“We have also discussed relations with our Eastern Partners. We have particularly focused on the recent hope-inspiring events in Belarus, where a number of political prisoners were released from jail on August 22. We have also discussed the current state of affairs in Georgia and Moldova, as well as the events taking place in Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Federica Mogherini told reporters, according to RFE/RL Armenian service.

Mogherini, however, failed to mention which exact questions concerning Armenia and Azerbaijan were discussed at the meeting.

An Armenian contract soldier Hayk Devoyan (born in 1975) was deadly wounded in the Azeri armed forces attack in the province of Tavush, spokesperson for the Armenian Defense Ministry said.

Azerbaijani armed forces continuously violated the ceasefire at the line of contact with Armenia (Tavush province) on the evening and night of September 5.

Azeri armed forces attacked Armenian posts and border villages, firing from various caliber weapons, including mortars, infantry support guns and artillery weapons.

Keeping the situation under control, the Armenian armed forces mostly stayed committed to the ceasefire, taking retaliatory measures only in extreme necessity to silence the rivals’ attacks.

On April 17, 2013 Syria’s Bashar Assad warns the West & USA ‘terrorism’ “will come back & haunt you”

August 23, 2015 By administrator

April 17, 2013 | By Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times,

la-apphoto-mideast-syria-assad-jpg-20130417

Time for I told you so

President Bashar Assad says the U.S. and Europe are supporting his Islamist opponents, which will come back to haunt them. He also has words for Jordan.

BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad warned in a television interview Wednesday that the war against his government risked spreading to neighboring Jordan and predicted that rebel fighters, whom he described as Islamic extremists, would later take their violence to the West.

Speaking on the pro-government Syrian channel Al Ikhbariya, Assad presented himself as a staunch patriot who was fending off meddling by the West. He appeared to be wooing Syrians wearied by the country’s bloodshed, disillusioned by all sides and desperate for Syria’s conflict to end.

Assad charged that the United States and Europe were supporting his Islamist opponents. He said the alleged support was cynical and would come back to haunt them. The United States and its European allies have given limited support to Syrian rebels, but have been wary of providing aid, especially arms, that could fall into the hands of Islamist extremists.

“The West uses any element, even if it is against them elsewhere,” Assad said. “They fight Al Qaeda in Mali and they support it in Syria and in Libya, but the West doesn’t know — or perhaps it knows but is not now aware — that this terrorism will return to it and they will pay the price later in Europe and the United States.”

EU farmers lost €5.5 Billion from Russian food import ban – Unions

August 1, 2015 By administrator

The trade embargo from Russia has cost European farmers an estimated 5.5 billion euros in lost revenue, a senior trade union official complained on Friday, sputniknews.com reports.

The trade embargo from Russia – which farmers and cooperatives are the victims of — has cut approximately half, 5.5 billion euros of our agri-food exports,” Albert Jan Maat, the president of the Brussels-based European farmers union Copa Cogeca, an umbrella group that includes around 60 agricultural organizations from all EU member states, said in a statement.

Maat welcomed as “a step forward” the EU Commission move to introduce new measures to support EU fruit and vegetable growers and dairy producers, but added that it was “nowhere near enough to compensate producers for their huge losses.”

Speaking on behalf of the Copa Cogeca union, representing 28 million EU farmers, Albert Jan Maat urged the EU to intensify negotiations with Russia to have the restrictions imposed on EU pig meat exports in early 2014 lifted.

In June Russia extended for another year its ban on food imports from the European Union, the United States, Canada and Norway. The list of products, first prohibited from being imported to Russia in August 2014, includes meat, poultry, fish, seafood, dairy products, fruit and vegetables.

Source: Panorama.am

HDP Leaders Meet US, European Envoys Amid Tension with AKP

July 31, 2015 By administrator

Co-chairs of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Figen Yuksekdag and Selahattin Demirtas (Source: Hurriyet Daily News)

ANKARA (Hurriyet Daily News)—The co-leaders of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have met with foreign ambassadors in Ankara to inform them about recent tensions with the Turkish government, as clashes between militants and security officials have intensified in recent days across Turkey.

Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag met with Iranian Ambassador to Turkey Ali Reza Bikdeli on July 29, with US Envoy John Bass and UK Ambassador Richard Moore on July 30, and with the ambassadors of EU countries on July 31, the party said in a written statement.

The meetings come at a time when HDP leadership is under intense pressure from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has accused the group of having links with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). This pressure is being further leveled as summaries of proceedings on a number of HDP lawmakers, including Demirtas and Yuksekdag, have been introduced to parliament in a move that could presage prosecution for the pair.

In response to AKP’s increased pressure on Demirtas’s and Yuksekdag’s party, which won 80 seats in parliament last month effectively ending AKP’s 13-year majority rule, the HDP has filed a criminal complaint against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for using their influence over judicial acts against its party officials.

“Prosecutors have launched operations that resulted in the detention and arrest of party officials after President Erdogan’s and Prime Minister Davutoglu’s statements that they had given instructions. As a result of these operations and according to the data provided to the Peoples’ Democratic Party, 1,033 have been detained and 125 of them have been arrested without concrete evidence since July 24,” the petition issued by HDP read.

Recalling consecutive statements by Erdogan and Davutoglu against Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, the petition said these statements were directly influencing judicial independence and impartiality.

Influencing the judiciary was a crime under article 277 of the Turkish Penal Code, the statement read.

Demirtas’s and Yuksekdag’s meetings with envoys were focused on the ongoing political tension between the AKP and the HDP, as well as escalating tension between the army and the PKK in the southeastern Anatolian region.

Demirtas, speaking to the media on July 31, underlined the need for a resumption of dialogue between the PKK and the government to reach a settlement of the Kurdish issue. “The peace process should be restarted although it has been going very slowly in the last three years. Dialogue is not something humiliating. Not for the PKK either. Instead of calls for surrender, calls for dialogue are more humane,” Demirtas said.

“As the people of Turkey, we should say, ‘Remove your hands from the trigger, solve this issue at the table.’ Pushing democratic political channels to the end in such periods is part of the settlement. Taking about party closures and the removal of immunities would only block these democratic political channels,” he added.

Stating that he will meet with the Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu next week over these issues, Demirtas said, that “our doors are open for even those who fully ignore us. We’ll knock on any doors for peace. These are the views of our party, not my personal views. We should focus on peace rather than elections. Otherwise going to elections is easy.”

Iran deal stirs up EU’s interest in Nagorno-Karabakh – expert

July 21, 2015 By administrator

In an interview with Tert.am Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert for the Armenian Center of Political and International Research, said that Europe’s interest in the positive results of the agreement with Iran has grown, especially in the context of the region, including Nagorno-Karabakh.

President of the European Council Donald Tusk, at a press briefing held jointly with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, stated that a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a priority for the European Union (EU). Report Tert.am

One should not forget that Mr Sigmar Gabriel, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, is on a three-day visit to Iran.

“It is clear that the South Caucasus will be viewed as an obstacle to long-term prospects for being a hotbed of destabilization, and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a key factor,” Mr Mehrabyan said.

Russia has a similar idea as well.

“Russia reckons that, given the tendency, it would be better to get involved in this process than opposing it.
This is the reason why we can see the positions of Russia and the West drawing closer to each other,” Mr Mehrabyan said.

According to him, Mr Donald Tusk made a “probing” visit to the region.

“That is, testing to correct assessments. An agreement with Iran affords ample opportunities to Armenia. The question is Armenia’s ability to act an entity of regional politics, but not as an object, to make use of its enhanced role to its own and region’s benefit,” the expert said.

One thing is clear: Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) restricts Armenia’s opportunities.

“Monopolies prevent using Armenia’s potential.”

Armenia is not involved in active negotiations and investigations.

“The Iranian ambassador stated that the Iranian president would pay an official visit to Armenia, and we get a full picture. This is a rather difficult process, with all of the actors, including Armenia, involved in it. And Armenia should consider its own benefits and potential, making relevant efforts.”

Armenian President urges EU to refuse from putting an equality mark between parties to Karabakh conflict

July 20, 2015 By administrator

“The Azerbaijani leadership made us a big gift by hosting the European Games and ensuring peace and stability in that period both at the line of contact with Nagorno Karabakh and the shared border with Armenia,” Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said at a joint press conference with visiting President of the European Council Donald Tusk. The Armenian President added, however, that it was an imitation of peace and stability.

“I say a gift because it was the last drop that made it clear to the international community who really creates tension and violates the ceasefire. This is extremely important. I urge the European structures to refuse form the policy of putting an equality mark between the parties. They should at least demonstrate a differentiated approach like the Minsk Group did in January and clearly state who is the shooter, who creates tension and who wants war,” the President stated. Report Armradio.am

“When there is an equality mark, people have the feeling of impunity. This is the reason of Azerbaijani President’s arrogant speeches,” the Armenian President said, referring to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s speech immediately after the European Games.

“Although the smell of oil and gas and the taste of caviar could be too attractive to certain structures and individuals in Europe, the elimination of this equality mark will put us on the right track. Otherwise, if things continue this way, if all speeches and deeds of the Azerbaijani President are forgiven, we should quote our outstanding compatriot William Saroyan, who once said ‘Something’s wrong somewhere’,” President Sargsyan stated.