Armenia’s National Assembly approved two petitions with respect to Volunteer Union Chairman and “Republican Party of Armenia” Faction MP, General Manvel Grigoryan.

One of these petitions was on launching criminal proceedings against Grigoryan, to include him in these proceedings as a defendant, and bringing charges against him.

The second petition was about getting the NA’s consent for placing Manvel Grigoryan under arrest, thus stripping him of parliamentary immunity.

Later in the day, Grigoryan was charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition as well as embezzlement on a massive scale.

All the circumstances, including the possible complicity by senior officials from the Ministry of Defense (MOD), will be examined during the investigation, Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan said.

A drone of the Defense Army of Artsakh was shot down by the adversary in the south-eastern direction of the line of contact on Tuesday.

The drone was conducting border monitoring, Artsakh Defense Army said in a statement.

Despite Azerbaijani side’s attempts to prevent the flights of Armenian drones, the Artsakh Armed Forces are determined to continue regular air monitoring, the statement says.

There are no obstacles for the ratification of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA), member of the European Parliament said in Yerevan.

David McAllister, along with other eight MEPs visited Yerevan on Monday to hold meetings with the new leadership.

On July 4 the European Parliament will cast its final vote on CEPA, he said.

During the visit, MEPs reiterated their call for peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict and expressed readiness to support the launch of a free-visa dialogue with Armenia. Progress in anti-corruption reforms, will be of key importance for the decision on visa liberalization, they said.

Germania airline of Germany has launched regular flights between Yerevan and Berlin.

The Germania airplanes will conduct these direct flights once a week.

The minimum price of the airline ticket will cost Armenian drams equivalent to about €169, and a roundtrip ticket—approximately €338.

Twenty-five Congress members have called on US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to provide considerable assistance to Armenia.

In a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the lawmakers said US assistance is particularly important in the transition period, when the Armenian government and people together are endeavoring to overcome the corrupt past. The US Congress members urge Pompeo to considerably increase assistance to Armenia and help the country fight against corruption.

In the year past, more than 7,000 Armenian citizens petitioned to EU countries with a request for being granted refugee status, says the European Asylum Support Office’s 2017 report on the situation of asylum in the EU.

As per this report, a total of 7,750 Armenian citizens had applied for refugee status last year. In 2016, however, 8,565 Armenian citizens had petitioned for such request.