The health condition of retired General Manvel Grigoryan, former MP of the National Assembly of Armenia, sharply deteriorated late Wednesday night at the capital city Yerevan hospital for convicts.

According to Deputy Director of the Hospital Artak Manukyan, it was confirmed that Grigoryan has hyperglycemia, precoma. Now the ex-MP is in critical condition.

The plane of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan landed at the Saint Petersburg airport in Russia on Thursday. The PM will take part in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and deliver a speech. Within his visit, Pashinyan will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and with representatives of the Saint Petersburg Armenian community.

A charge of murder has been brought against the former chief of staff of the Armenia Police internal troops, Gegham Petrosyan, who is detained within the framework of the criminal case into the events that occurred in capital city Yerevan, in March 2008, when then Armenian authorities used force against the opposition members who were rallying in Yerevan, leaving eight demonstrators and two servicemen killed.

Also a petition has been filed with the court for Petrosyan’s arrest.

Petrosyan was reportedly interviewed in the past as a witness and had testified against one of the defendants along the lines of the aforesaid criminal case.

The EU will allocate a €65mn of aid to Armenia in 2019, said Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan on Thursday.

According to him, an additional €25mn fund is also envisaged.

“In other words, a €65mn of financial assistance will be allocated to us [Armenia] by the EU,” he said.

What comes to visa liberalization issue with EU, the FM noted that several European Union (EU) states are quite sensitive towards migration policy issues, since in some cases the EU member states take into account the negative track-record of visa liberalization.

“The work is carried out with the EU— both through the commission and the council, as well as the member states,” he said.

Armenia minister also noted that deepening of cooperation with the European Union (EU) and its member countries is one of the major foreign policy objectives of Armenia. He noted that cooperation with the EU has considerably contributed to the development of economic, judicial, and some other domains in the country.

Nazeni Gharibyan will no longer hold the office of chairperson of the management board of the National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet after Alexander Spendiaryan.

Gharibyan stated that all ministers of culture have traditionally been chairperson of the management board of the Theater, but since she won’t be holding the office of deputy minister of education, science, culture and sport, she also won’t be the chairperson of the management board of the Theater.