English language “losing importance,” EU's Juncker saysMay 5, 2017 - 16:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has told a conference on the EU that "English is losing importance in Europe", according to BBC News. He was speaking in Florence, Italy, amid tensions with the UK government over looming Brexit negotiations. "Slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe and also because France has an election," he said, explaining his choice of French. He called the UK decision to leave the EU "a tragedy". Laughter and applause greeted his comment about the English language, and he could be seen smiling wryly. "We will negotiate fairly with our British friends, but let's not forget that it is not the EU that is abandoning the UK - it is the UK that's abandoning the EU, and that makes a difference," he said. UK Prime Minister Theresa May has accused some EU officials of trying to influence the UK's 8 June parliamentary election. The Commission's chief Brexit negotiator, French ex-commissioner Michel Barnier, is to give a speech on Brexit in a few hours' time. EU leaders say the UK cannot simply "cherry-pick" membership terms that it wishes to keep. A Brexit deal cannot be better than full EU membership, they stress. The EU conference is called State of the Union, at Florence's European University Institute (EUI). France holds the decisive second round of its presidential election on Sunday, May 7. Top EU officials say they want liberal independent Emmanuel Macron to beat his nationalist rival, Marine Le Pen. Photo: Getty Images Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. 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. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |