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ARMENIA PRAISED FOR CLOSER SECURITY TIES WITH U.S.
Baku Today,
March 8 2006
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza praised
Armenia's efforts to forge closer defense links with the United States
and discussed ways of boosting its "energy security" during a visit
to Yerevan on Tuesday.
"The reason I am here is that I want to do everything I possibly can to
strengthen the already strong collaboration between the United States
and Armenia," Bryza told reporters after holding "very constructive"
talks with President Robert Kocharian and other Armenian leaders.
"We are working hard together to help Armenia to realize its desire to
have stronger relations with the Euro-Atlantic family. We are pleased
with the considerable progress made in this regard over past year,"
he said, singling out the signing of Yerevan's "individual partnership
action plan" with NATO.
Bryza added that it is up to the Armenian leadership, which continues
to regard the military alliance with Russia as the bedrock of its
national security doctrine, to decide how far it wants to go in
deepening military cooperation with the West. "I don't think that the
government of Armenia can move at a pace that for us is too quick,"
he said. "But we are very happy with the level of cooperation. This
has been a significant year for U.S.-Armenian security cooperation."
The issue was high on the agenda of his separate meetings with
Kocharian, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian. The U.S. official also had what he described as a
"very detailed and interesting discussion on energy security" with
Energy Minister Armen Movsisian and Armenian energy sector experts.
"The key to energy security for Armenia, as for any country, is
diversity. Armenia has a long and positive experience working with
Russian gas suppliers and that needs to continue," he said.
Bryza went on to indicate that Washington is ready to help the
landlocked country reduce its heavy dependence on Russian energy
resources. But he stopped short of endorsing the Armenian government's
decision to build a gas pipeline from Iran, the U.S.
arch-rival in the region. "The United States, like the entire
international community, is not in favor of any steps that will lead
to significant expansion of Iran's ability to project economic or
any other type of power," he said.
Bryza argued in that regard that diversification of Armenia's energy
resource supplies relates to "not just natural gas but other types
of energy as well, which is hydro power ..., geothermal power as well
as potentially a new generation of nuclear power."
The remark suggests that the U.S. does not object to the Armenian
government's extremely ambitious plans to build a new nuclear
power station in place of the Metsamor plant, which is due to be
decommissioned by 2016. Movsisian and other Armenian energy officials
admitted last week that they will need at least $1 billion in foreign
investments to put the project into practice.
Also, Bryza pointedly avoided any criticism of the Kocharian
administration's democracy and human rights record, speaking instead
of the need for ordinary Armenians to develop a "culture of democracy"
and urging the Armenian opposition to operate "constructively."
"We hope over the next few months and years to use all of our
assistance levers to build democracy not only from the top down but
most importantly from the bottom up," Bryza said, adding that the
U.S. considers Armenia to be a "democratizing country."
The Bush administration approved recently $235.6 million in additional
economic assistance to Armenian under its Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) program, saying that the Armenian authorities have
addressed U.S. concerns about their commitment to democracy and good
governance. That commitment was most recently called into question by
their handling of last November's disputed constitutional referendum.
Bryza further declined to confirm or refute reports that the U.S.
ambassador in Yerevan, John Evans, will be recalled soon over his
public recognition last year of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey as a genocide. The Bush administration and the
State Department distanced themselves from Evans's remarks at the
time, insisting that they did not signal any change in U.S. policy
on the issue.
"He, like all of us, serves at the pleasure of the president of the
United States," Bryza said, sitting next to Evans. "It's up to the
president to make his own decisions, including on personnel."
"The fact of the matter is that I do not know when I will be leaving
Armenia and I have not submitted by retirement papers," Evans said
for his part.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Baku Today,
March 8 2006
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza praised
Armenia's efforts to forge closer defense links with the United States
and discussed ways of boosting its "energy security" during a visit
to Yerevan on Tuesday.
"The reason I am here is that I want to do everything I possibly can to
strengthen the already strong collaboration between the United States
and Armenia," Bryza told reporters after holding "very constructive"
talks with President Robert Kocharian and other Armenian leaders.
"We are working hard together to help Armenia to realize its desire to
have stronger relations with the Euro-Atlantic family. We are pleased
with the considerable progress made in this regard over past year,"
he said, singling out the signing of Yerevan's "individual partnership
action plan" with NATO.
Bryza added that it is up to the Armenian leadership, which continues
to regard the military alliance with Russia as the bedrock of its
national security doctrine, to decide how far it wants to go in
deepening military cooperation with the West. "I don't think that the
government of Armenia can move at a pace that for us is too quick,"
he said. "But we are very happy with the level of cooperation. This
has been a significant year for U.S.-Armenian security cooperation."
The issue was high on the agenda of his separate meetings with
Kocharian, Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian and Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian. The U.S. official also had what he described as a
"very detailed and interesting discussion on energy security" with
Energy Minister Armen Movsisian and Armenian energy sector experts.
"The key to energy security for Armenia, as for any country, is
diversity. Armenia has a long and positive experience working with
Russian gas suppliers and that needs to continue," he said.
Bryza went on to indicate that Washington is ready to help the
landlocked country reduce its heavy dependence on Russian energy
resources. But he stopped short of endorsing the Armenian government's
decision to build a gas pipeline from Iran, the U.S.
arch-rival in the region. "The United States, like the entire
international community, is not in favor of any steps that will lead
to significant expansion of Iran's ability to project economic or
any other type of power," he said.
Bryza argued in that regard that diversification of Armenia's energy
resource supplies relates to "not just natural gas but other types
of energy as well, which is hydro power ..., geothermal power as well
as potentially a new generation of nuclear power."
The remark suggests that the U.S. does not object to the Armenian
government's extremely ambitious plans to build a new nuclear
power station in place of the Metsamor plant, which is due to be
decommissioned by 2016. Movsisian and other Armenian energy officials
admitted last week that they will need at least $1 billion in foreign
investments to put the project into practice.
Also, Bryza pointedly avoided any criticism of the Kocharian
administration's democracy and human rights record, speaking instead
of the need for ordinary Armenians to develop a "culture of democracy"
and urging the Armenian opposition to operate "constructively."
"We hope over the next few months and years to use all of our
assistance levers to build democracy not only from the top down but
most importantly from the bottom up," Bryza said, adding that the
U.S. considers Armenia to be a "democratizing country."
The Bush administration approved recently $235.6 million in additional
economic assistance to Armenian under its Millennium Challenge
Account (MCA) program, saying that the Armenian authorities have
addressed U.S. concerns about their commitment to democracy and good
governance. That commitment was most recently called into question by
their handling of last November's disputed constitutional referendum.
Bryza further declined to confirm or refute reports that the U.S.
ambassador in Yerevan, John Evans, will be recalled soon over his
public recognition last year of the 1915 mass killings of Armenians
in Ottoman Turkey as a genocide. The Bush administration and the
State Department distanced themselves from Evans's remarks at the
time, insisting that they did not signal any change in U.S. policy
on the issue.
"He, like all of us, serves at the pleasure of the president of the
United States," Bryza said, sitting next to Evans. "It's up to the
president to make his own decisions, including on personnel."
"The fact of the matter is that I do not know when I will be leaving
Armenia and I have not submitted by retirement papers," Evans said
for his part.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress