After several consecutive years of decline consumer price inflation in Armenia has soared in the last few months, surpassing a maximum target rate of 5.5 percent set by the authorities for this year.
The United States praised significant progress in the Armenian authorities’ fight against human tracking, upgrading Armenia’s status in an annual global report presented by Secretary of State John Kerry late on Wednesday.
President Serzh Sarkisian on Monday congratulated Hassan Rohani on winning Iran’s presidential election, expressing confidence that Armenian-Iranian relations will grow even closer during his tenure.
Armenian women have been allowed to apply to the country’s two main military academies for the first time as part of ongoing reforms of the Armenian armed forces.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has held separate talks with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers in Washington to discuss ways of breaking the current impasse in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The Armenian government must end the privileged treatment of some businesspeople, improve tax collection and embark on other “deep and swift” reforms if it is to speed up Armenia’s economic development, the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday.
Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe gave on Thursday a mixed assessment of Armenia’s recent presidential election, reiterating that it was “generally well-administered” but questioning its official results that gave victory to President Serzh Sarkisian.
President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) looked set to win Sunday’s municipal elections in Yerevan by an unexpectedly huge margin that was shown by early official vote results rejected as fraudulent by at least one of its main opposition challengers.
Opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian urged Armenia’s main opposition forces on Tuesday to close ranks ahead of the weekend elections in Yerevan, saying that the mayoral race is an opportunity to bring about President Serzh Sarkisian’s downfall.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and his Armenian counterpart Seyran Ohanian reportedly reaffirmed plans to expand the already close military ties between their countries during fresh talks held in Moscow on Wednesday.
Armenia has signed an essentially non-binding memorandum of understanding with the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus that does not call for its membership of the Russian-led trade bloc which Moscow hopes to extend to other ex-Soviet states.
The Armenian police warned on Monday that they will use force against opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian and his supporters if the latter march towards the presidential palace in Yerevan during President Serzh Sarkisian’s inauguration on Tuesday.
Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian on Friday reaffirmed his intention to declare himself Armenia’s president on Tuesday and urged supporters to attend his “inauguration” in Yerevan’s Liberty Square in droves.
Russia’s largest oil company controlled by the Kremlin looks set to gain a foothold in Armenia, a development that could reshape the Armenian fuel market dominated by a handful of government-linked businessmen.
President Serzh Sarkisian insisted late on Monday that Russia is not pressuring Armenia to join the Russian-led Customs Union of three ex-Soviet states and reiterated his government’s plans to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union this year.
Dismissing criticism from the Armenian Apostolic Church, opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian kept up the pressure on the government on Friday with another rally in Yerevan’s Liberty Square attended thousands of his supporters.
The Council of Europe has joined the chorus of international praise for the Armenian authorities’ handling of last month’s presidential election strongly criticized by domestic opposition and civil society groups.
In a post-election move that has puzzled analysts, President Serzh Sarkisian has appointed Mikael Minasian, his son-in-law and reputedly most influential adviser, as Armenia’s ambassador to the Vatican.
In what will be his first trip abroad after reelection, President Serzh Sarkisian will fly to Moscow early next week for fresh talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that could clarify the future of Russian-Armenian relations.
Opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian pledged to continue challenging the legitimacy of President Serzh Sarkisian’s reelection with nationwide street protests as he again rallied several thousand supporters in Yerevan on Tuesday.
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