Situation with U.S. Ambassador to Armenia underwent no changes

PanARMENIAN.Net - The situation with the appointment of U.S. Ambassador to Armenia underwent no changes, said Rudolf Perina, the U.S. Charge d'Affairs in Armenia. The White House insists on Richard Hoagland's designation. It's the Senate's turn, according to him.



Mr Perina reminded that his stay in Armenia will last until the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary assumes the office in Yerevan, IA Regnum reports.



September 7, 2006 Senator Robert Menendez blocked Hoagland's candidacy in the Senate. December 1 the New Jersey legislator joined with Majority Leader Harry Reid in calling on the Administration to offer a new candidacy for this post. The negative attitude towards Richard Hoagland's nomination is connected with his outright denial of the Armenian Genocide in response to questions posed during and after his June 2006 confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Former U.S. Ambassador to Yerevan John Evans was forced into early retirement last year, after he used the term Armenian Genocide to describe the mass murders of Armenians in Turkey.