EX-DIPLOMAT SEES TWO ELEMENTS IN REDUCTION IN AID TO ARMENIA
09:03 ~U 12.04.13
The proposal of US President Barack Obama to cut aid to Armenia by 40%
in the 2014 Fiscal Year may have two elements and soon it will be clear
which one of them is dominating, former spokesperson for the Armenia's
Foreign Ministry Vladimir Karapetyan said speaking to Tert.am.
"The first element is that the US authorities have viewed Armenia in
the row of countries the aid of which can be cut and we have witnessed
that in few countries where development growth has been registered
the USA has thought other mechanisms of assistance, gradually reducing
the state aid," Vladimir Karapetyan said.
The second possible reason according to him, may be US reservation
over the recent developments in Armenia. "In particular, they were not
satisfied with transparency of elections and there is nothing strange
in it as it is clear for the US that the elections have been rigged
and the authorities are not undertaking measures to solve the issue,"
he said.
The press release issued earlier by ANCA says that President Obama,
who came into office pledging to maintain aid to Armenia and increase
bilateral trade and investment, has consistently cut Armenian
assistance programs, while failing to take any meaningful steps to
promote the growth of economic relations through investment treaties,
tax accords, trade missions, or other commonly utilized policies
and practices.
US President Barack Obama was among the world leaders who congratulated
Serzh Sargsyan on his re-election. In response to it, Karapetyan said
that this fact does not exclude the second element at all.
"The USA had observing mission and shared the criticism in the
OSCE/ODIHR reports and statements which do not state that the elections
were good ones," Karapetyan said.
The OSCE-ODIHR issued an internal report about presidential elections
in Armenia on February 18 in which it expressed doubts over the 80%
voter turnout in some polling stations and big number of votes Serzh
Sargsyan got there. The report also said that the Armenian citizens
avoid stating about frauds which is a result of lack of trust toward
election commissions, judicial instances.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
09:03 ~U 12.04.13
The proposal of US President Barack Obama to cut aid to Armenia by 40%
in the 2014 Fiscal Year may have two elements and soon it will be clear
which one of them is dominating, former spokesperson for the Armenia's
Foreign Ministry Vladimir Karapetyan said speaking to Tert.am.
"The first element is that the US authorities have viewed Armenia in
the row of countries the aid of which can be cut and we have witnessed
that in few countries where development growth has been registered
the USA has thought other mechanisms of assistance, gradually reducing
the state aid," Vladimir Karapetyan said.
The second possible reason according to him, may be US reservation
over the recent developments in Armenia. "In particular, they were not
satisfied with transparency of elections and there is nothing strange
in it as it is clear for the US that the elections have been rigged
and the authorities are not undertaking measures to solve the issue,"
he said.
The press release issued earlier by ANCA says that President Obama,
who came into office pledging to maintain aid to Armenia and increase
bilateral trade and investment, has consistently cut Armenian
assistance programs, while failing to take any meaningful steps to
promote the growth of economic relations through investment treaties,
tax accords, trade missions, or other commonly utilized policies
and practices.
US President Barack Obama was among the world leaders who congratulated
Serzh Sargsyan on his re-election. In response to it, Karapetyan said
that this fact does not exclude the second element at all.
"The USA had observing mission and shared the criticism in the
OSCE/ODIHR reports and statements which do not state that the elections
were good ones," Karapetyan said.
The OSCE-ODIHR issued an internal report about presidential elections
in Armenia on February 18 in which it expressed doubts over the 80%
voter turnout in some polling stations and big number of votes Serzh
Sargsyan got there. The report also said that the Armenian citizens
avoid stating about frauds which is a result of lack of trust toward
election commissions, judicial instances.
Armenian News - Tert.am
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress