Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 15.11.2019:
· Coalition parties of the Dutch parliament tabled an amendment to the Foreign Affairs budget to open the Dutch resident Embassy in Armenia, Armenia's Ambassador to the Netherlands Tigran Balayan wrote on Facebook.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry welcomed the initiative, saying “the move is a manifestation of support to the democratic developments in Armenia”.
“The Embassy will strengthen the long-standing partnership between Armenia and the Netherlands,” the statement reads.
· Armenian parliament today continued discussions of the draft state budget for 2020.
Thus, it is planned to allocate almost AMD 12.4 billion to the Ministry of High-Tech Industry for Armenia to become an exporting country of high-tech military industry, said the minister Hakob Arshakyan.
According to the draft budget for 2020, spending for the needs of the military industry increased by 122% - AMD 6.3 billion.
As he noted, high-tech industry ministry intends to make Armenia a welcome place for the life and work of engineers, programmers, and innovators.
By the way, Armenian Emergency Situations Ministry is expected to get AMD 12 billion 766 million in 2020.
Minister Feliks Tsolakyan noted that they mainly fight against natural disasters and their consequences.
During the discussion on Friday, Gevorg Gorgisyan, Bright Armenia Party MP, said that the political majority of Armenia does not fulfill its pre-election promises.
According to him, he has always criticized the authorities for failing to fulfill their promises, or doing the opposite.
As noted Prosperous Armenia party MP Mikayel Melkumyan, the new government has 1.5-2.5 years to meet the positive expectations of the population, but the 2020 draft budget does not live up to the expectations of the Armenian people.
The draft budget was realistic, and indicates that no drastic positive changes can be expected, he said adding that the real inflow of investments to Armenia amounted to $ 15 million.
· Vernatun public-political club held a meeting on Friday.
Thus, according to Armenian parliament’s MP Ruben Hakobyan, the Armenian society is trying to find out what happened a year and a half ago: a revolution or the implementation of a script written in some foreign offices.
“The issue of Artsakh has come to a standstill,” he noted adding that the authorities introduced oppositional populism into the political dictionary.
Armenian first Ombudswoman Larisa Alaverdyan said there is no Karabakh question, ‘there is an Artsakh answer.’ According to her, the goal of all Armenians should be the correct presentation of the Azerbaijani-Artsakh conflict to the world.
Political analyst Karen Bekaryan, in his turn, said that Armenian authorities categorically reject taking responsibility for the Artsakh issue.
According to him, the political team headed by the PM took the office with the high degree of trust, but now they are doing everything to avoid taking responsibility for the talks.
Touching upon the issue of Armenian ex-President Robert Kocharyan, the head of the second President’s office Viktor Soghomonyan said that “November 20 marks 11 months of the illegal arrest of Robert Kocharyan. The second president of Armenia is a political prisoner.”
“The ARF-D Bureau, having analyzed the political situation in Armenia and the events taking place in the country, expresses concern about the political developments of recent months,” the statement said.
“We urge the Armenian authorities to eliminate the atmosphere of widespread fear and persecution created in the country and create a culture of healthy political relations,” it added.
· The Criminal Court of Appeals did not grant the motion by the legal defenders of Ara Vardanyan, former Executive director of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund, and Vardanyan will remain in custody. Vardanyan’s lawyer Yervand Varosyan noted on his Facebook.
“And this in turn means that Ara Vardanyan is being persecuted and actually punished for his political and social activities only,” he noted adding: “Any political process being carried out under the veil of criminal prosecution is anti-state.”
