Sen. Bob Menendez and his co-defendants arrive at court Mississippi Valley Publishing
Day: June 11, 2024
Georgia, Losing Western Support, Risks Missing Opportunity to Restore Territorial Integrity The Jamestown Foundation
В Ахалгорском [ленингорском] районе [де-факто, прим.ред.] Южной Осетии беженцам, проживающим около села Церовани и Тбилиси, раздали югоосетинское гражданство на условиях, что они приедут 9 июня на избирательные участки одномандатного округа №16 (восточная часть района) проголосовать за партию [самопровозглашенной, прим.ред.] действующей администрации «Ныхас» и за её же мажоритарного кандидата Зазу Дрияева. Предложение приняли по разным данным […]
A remarkable development is taking place in Yerevan. #Armenia and the #USA have decided to elevate bilateral strategic dialogue to the level of a new Strategic Partnership Commission. This enhances #Armenian–#American relations. While the strategic dialogue format involves… pic.twitter.com/15JW4nYuli
— Robert Ananyan (@robananyan) June 11, 2024
Categories
NPR News: 06-11-2024 5PM EDT
Glendale Mayor Elen Asatryan will travel to Armenia from June 11 to 20 to participate, in part, in the U.S.-Armenia Local Democracy Forum organized by the State Department with mayors and executives from cities around the United States.
Mayor Asatryan will arrive ahead of the delegation on the night of June 11. The goal of the trip is to enhance bilateral relations, explore economic opportunities, and foster cultural and educational exchanges between Armenia and Glendale, and beyond.
The Mayor’s itinerary includes visits to Yerevan, Gyumri, and, time permitting, possibly Kapan. The trip will also include meetings with Armenian local government officials, media outlets, business leaders, and community organizations. Asatryan will also participate in panels and discussions focused on strengthening relations with Armenia, sister city relations, democracy, efficient government structures, sustainability, trade, tourism, and technology partnerships.
Reflecting on the trip, Mayor Asatryan stated, “I am thrilled to return to my birthplace Armenia as the Mayor of Glendale – home to the largest concentration of Armenians outside of Armenia, making up roughly 40 percent of our city’s population. As the fourth largest city in LA County and home to the largest immigrant/foreign-born population in California, Glendale and Armenia are intertwined in every way. This trip represents an incredible opportunity to deepen our connections, share knowledge, and create meaningful collaborations that benefit both Glendale and Armenia.”
Asatryan last visited Armenia in December 2022-January 2023 to join Armenia’s Opera House as she helped establish a partnership between Armenia’s Opera House and Los Angeles Opera. During that visit, Asatryan also visited Glendale’s Sister Cities Gyumri and Kapan and was the first Glendale elected official to do so since Gyumri and Glendale became sister cities in 2015 and the first city elected official to visit Kapan since 2009. Asatryan was unable to visit Glendale’s Sister City Martuni, Artsakh at the time due to the blockade.
Upon her return, Mayor Asatryan initiated a review of Glendale’s current sister city policies, which she felt lacked proper structures, accountability, and staffing to ensure that initiatives, programs, and exchanges actually took place beyond visits and MOUs on paper. This item is scheduled to come to a discussion and vote at the Glendale City Council meeting next month. If Asatryan garners the support from her council colleagues, this will pave the way for structured committees and more support and productive bilateral relations.
Asatryan also called for Glendale to create an Artsakh Fund during the blockade, encouraging larger Glendale organizations to donate and will use the trip as an opportunity to see how the funds can go to refugees from Martuni Artsakh, who were forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands. Mayor Asatryan has also noted that she plans to lead a city delegation during her tenure as Mayor and bring along experts and economic opportunities based on sister city needs.
The United States and Armenia issued a joint statement following the U.S.-Armenia Strategic Dialogue Capstone, which took place in Yerevan on Tuesday.
Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan hosted Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia James C. O’Brien and an interagency government delegation for the meeting.
Below is the text of the statement.
During the Capstone meeting, Armenia and the United States reviewed progress on strengthening bilateral relations and outlined a vision for deepening ties in the coming year, to be formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding, to upgrade the status of our bilateral dialogue to a Strategic Partnership Commission. We look forward to outlining the specific lines of effort to deepen our relations in the coming months. The sides positively assessed cooperation to support Armenia’s ongoing reforms and democratic progress and noted Armenia’s aspirations for closer cooperation with Euro-Atlantic institutions and the West. The United States reiterated its support for Armenia’s sovereignty, independence, democracy, and territorial integrity, in line with the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration.
Supporting Armenia’s Economic and Energy Resilience
The delegations reviewed joint efforts to promote mutual prosperity and economic and energy resilience through closer cooperation, taking note of the important conversations on these topics that took place during the Joint EU-U.S.-Armenia High Level Meeting on April 5, 2024, in Brussels. Noting that U.S.-Armenia trade turnover has already quadrupled since 2020, the sides committed to continue to expand commercial and trade ties to the greatest extent possible.
The sides discussed increasing cooperation on sanctions and export controls. They also reviewed options for export licensing to facilitate more trade in advanced technology items. Discussion also focused on promoting Armenia’s food security and energy independence, including work already being done to identify U.S. commercial solutions in nuclear energy and renewables.
USAID intends to support Armenia to develop a transport strategy to underpin Armenia’s vision of the “Crossroads of Peace,” encouraging and strengthening regional trade and connectivity through a just and durable peace. This peace will unlock the entire region’s potential and bring substantial benefits for all people in the region.
The United States acknowledges the ongoing economic and social challenges Armenia faces in supporting displaced persons and refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh and intends to continue to assist the Government of Armenia’s efforts in this regard. The United States praised Armenia’s efforts to shelter displaced persons and refugees, and Armenia offered appreciation for the more than $21 million in humanitarian assistance the United States has provided to support displaced persons and refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh since September 2020.
Strengthening Security and Law Enforcement Cooperation for Mutual Benefit
Capstone meeting participants acknowledged the important role of U.S. assistance to Armenia’s defense transformation and law enforcement development initiatives, which the United States intends to continue to support through advisory programs, military-to-military contact activities, professional military education opportunities through the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program, and the long-standing State Partnership Program with the Kansas National Guard. Delegations also recognized the significant cooperation milestone reached with Exercise Eagle Partner 2023. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia and the U.S. Department of Defense also commended the start of the first annual Staff Talks between U.S. European Command and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia in May 2024 and resolved to initiate formal U.S.-Armenia Bilateral Defense Consultations to regularize planning of defense cooperation objectives.
Building on the successful establishment of Armenia’s Patrol Police, which achieved nationwide coverage in 2023, the two sides discussed future U.S. assistance to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, including planned efforts to develop police education and modernize human resources structures to increase accountability and sustainability.
The United States appreciates Armenia’s continued contributions to global peacekeeping operations and looks forward to additional cooperation on peacekeeping and law enforcement development.
Promoting Justice, Democratic Institutions and Shared Democratic Values
The delegations took stock of ongoing cooperation in the justice sector, acknowledging significant U.S. contributions to Armenia’s justice sector reform efforts. The United States intends to also continue to support Armenian institutions focused on preventing and combating corruption and transnational organized crime, as well as efforts aimed at fostering judicial impartiality, integrity and independence.
The delegations discussed planned programming to support victims and witnesses and ensure access to justice. The United States will continue to support the development of a robust civil society and independent media environment to further strengthen Armenia’s democratic institutions and increase transparency. Both sides emphasized the importance of respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law and pledged to work together in this regard. The United States and Armenia reaffirmed their commitment to shared democratic values and to the goal of an Armenia that is democratic, prosperous, and peaceful.
The United States and Armenia signed an agreement Tuesday on “mutual assistance” of their customs authorities.
The agreement was signed by Armenia’s State Revenue chief, Rustam Badasyan, and U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien at the conclusion of what is called a capstone meeting of the Armenia-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, being held in Yerevan and attended by James O’Brien, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.
While the specific details of the agreement were not publicized, the event was seen as a sign of growing ties between the U.S. and Armenia.
O’Brien said that the U.S. will continue to “work on” closer defense and security ties with Armenia.
“We support the government’s efforts to make the rule of law fundamental, fight corruption, and empower people to express themselves democratically,” O’Brien said, adding that the U.S. also supports efforts to bring lasting peace to the region and is working to expand economic opportunity.
“We know that security, prosperity, and democracy coexist for Armenia.We support all efforts in these directions. We also support efforts to establish lasting peace. We work to expand economic opportunity – from Central Asia to the Mediterranean Sea. If there is lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, these opportunities will be more,” explained O’Brien.
“We will continue working on justice reform and defense and security issues. Our first joint military exercises took place last year, and we’re looking forward to more. We expect to work in cybersecurity, borders, energy, and nutritional security. We are ready to support Armenia. Our plan is to replace this Strategic Dialogue with a Strategic Partnership Commission, which will allow for greater depth of cooperation,” concluded O’Brien.
“We are interested in further exploring possibilities for cooperation for Armenia’s defense transformation,” Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said in remarks delivered at the meeting.
“Today’s meeting is yet another expression of high-level political dialogue between our two countries that will give another impetus to the evolving partnership between Armenia and the United States,” Mirzoyan said during the talks. “The bilateral agenda continues to expand and include dimensions critical for the resilience and sustainable development of Armenia.”
Mirzoyan added that Armenia remains committed to normalizing relations with Azerbaijan and demarcating the state border, based on the mutual recognition of territorial integrity based on the Alma-Ata Declaration.
“There is a real opportunity, a historic moment, to finalize the draft peace treaty; signing it can open a new door for long-term peace in the region,” Mirzoyan said.