U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee to debate new ambassadorial nomination to Armenia in JuneJune 9, 2008 - 14:26 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will debate new ambassadorial nomination to Armenia in June, a source in the U.S. Department of State told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. In March, President Bush nominated Marie L. Yovanovitch, currently ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, for Yerevan. If the Committee approves Ms. Yovanovitch as the U.S. ambassador to Armenia, the designation should be further confirmed by the Senate. However, the source voiced doubt that new Ambassador can be approved under the current administration. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who two years ago placed a legislative hold on genocide denier Richard Hoagland's nomination for U.S. ambassador to Armenia, said he will do the same if President George W. Bush's new ambassadorial nominee also fails to use proper wording for the Armenian Genocide. The United States has not been represented in the Armenian capital at the ambassadorial level since May 2006 when President Bush fired ambassador John Evans over his public mention of the Armenian Genocide. Observers in Washington think that absence of an ambassador in Yerevan damages the Armenian-American relations and put blame indirectly on the Armenian community of the U.S. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Concept to complete Yerevan Cascade discussed at city hall A conceptual proposal to complete the Cascade complex in downtown Yerevan has been presented by Jean-Michel Wilmotte. Pashinyan visits flood-hit region Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Saturday, June 8 visited the disaster area in the Lori province. €3.5 mln EU grant to support justice reforms in Armenia The European Union has paid €3.5 mln grant to Armenia within a €11mln program on Support to Justice Reforms. Yerevan reacts to Baku’s proposal to see Minsk Group abolition Alen Simonyan has declared that Armenia is taking steps aimed at concluding a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. |