Armenia strongly affected by August war and global recessionJuly 3, 2009 - 21:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - 2008 was a difficult year not only for Europe but also for all Eastern partners. August war, global recession and gas conflict between Moscow and Kiev strongly affected EU eastern partners, slowing down reform processes, Raul de Lutzenberger, Head of Eurocomission's mission in Armenia, announced in Yerevan, during a discussion devoted to European Neighborhood Policy and Eastern Partnership."Armenia was strongly affected by last year's war and economic recession, as well as internal political crisis following presidential elections. All that influenced the process of implementing European Neighborhood Policy," Ambassador stressed. According to him, Armenia became more active in the sphere of regional cooperation after initiating a dialogue with Turkey. "Yerevan and Ankara started 'football diplomacy' and later declared about the road map," European diplomat said, noting Armenia's progress in spheres of transport, migration issues and fight against trafficking. "In the meantime, human rights and democracy situation has deteriorated following March 1-2, 2008 incidents. Considering all that, EU Advisory Group and RA Ombudsman's Office are elaborating an action plan on human rights protection," Lutzenberger said. Top stories The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Yerevan City Council has elected Tigran Avniyan from the ruling Civil Contract as the mayor of the Armenian capital. The Armenian Parliament on Tuesday, October 3 voted to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Partner news | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |