make preferableArmenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 30.06.21:
- The European Union might lift travel restrictions for citizens of Armenia. As reported the diplomatic source of RFE/RL in the European Council, the EU Presidency has offered to include Armenia in the list of countries, the citizens of which can visit the Schengen area for tourism, as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein.
The issue is expected to be considered and put up for a vote during the session of EU ambassadors. Nevertheless, it’s up to the discretion of the EU member states to implement the recommendation.
- Azerbaijan is extorting testimonies against Russian peacekeepers from Armenian prisoners of war, and these ‘testimonies’ were made public during a shame trial against Armenian prisoners of war.
Alongside this, the Azerbaijani authorities disregard their direct commitments and are detaining prisoners of war and civilians. Azerbaijan is doing this to have additional leverages for repressing the Armenian side, that is, to demand mine maps or the pullout of troops or to present other demands. Now the Azerbaijani authorities have decided to use the Armenian captives for anti-Russian propaganda.
- The Armenian economy has embarked on a broad-based recovery, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) noted in its report.
According to the experts, the economy contracted by 7.4 per cent in 2020 as household consumption, investments and exports plummeted.
“High frequency indicators of economic activity point to strong growth in April 2021, offsetting negative or slow growth in the first three months of the year and reaching 2.6 per cent year-on-year growth overall for the period January to April. Growth is broad-based as almost all sectors posted positive developments, in particular the construction sector.”
“The Armenian economy is projected to grow by 4.0 per cent in 2021 and by 5.0 per cent in 2022. Economic recovery depends on the speed of vaccinations, political stability and prompt continuation of structural reforms after the elections.”
- As of Wednesday morning, 116 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 225,095 in the country.
The death toll in Armenia is 4,514.
Meanwhile, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), made 8,925 COVID-19 tests and recorded 914 cases.
- The England and Germany national teams faced off during the next-to-last match of the 1/8 final of UEFA Euro 2020.
England defeated Germany 2-0 during the match held at Wembley Stadium in London after Manchester City’s forward Raheem Sterling scored a goal in the 75th minute and Tottenham Hotspur’s forward Harry Kane scored a goal in the 86th minute.
Now, England will face Ukraine in the quarterfinals.
