Marking the first day of an official two-day state visit to Armenia by Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze, RSC Director Richard Giragosian noted the significance of the visit as an element in a broader effort to deepen and expand bilateral relations between Armenia and Georgia. The Georgian Foreign Minister will also meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan, and will hold a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan.
In an interview (in Armenian) with Aram Sargsyan for the “1in.am” news agency, RSC Director Richard Giragosian assessed trends in regional security, Armenia, NATO and Russia. Giragosian noted that although “NATO is not an alternative for Armenia’s security,” it is an important “addition and supplement to the country’s security and as a partner for defense and security reform,” as demonstrated by the impressive course of Armenian defense reform and its deepening of ties with NATO’s Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme.
In two interviews with “A1+” TV’s Aram Abrahamyan, Dr. Haykak Arshamyan commented on current developments. IN an interview with “A1+” TV’s “A-F” program, Arshamyan assessed the tragic terrorist attacks in Brussels and for the “P.S.” program of “A1+” TV, analyzed the recent amendments of new Armenian electoral code and commented on the agendas of various political parties in Armenia.
In a wide-ranging interview with Péter Bakodi for the new Hungarian conservative daily newspaper “Magyar Idők,” RSC Director Richard Giragosian assessed the recent escalation of clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh, the impact on Armenia of the Russian-Turkish crisis, and the broader issue of Armenian-Iranian relations.
http://magyaridok.hu/kulfold/ujra-fellangolhat-befagyott-konfliktus-518101/
In a special presentation hosted by Anahit Simonyan, the head of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Operations in Armenia, RSC Director Richard Giragosian offered a lecture on Armenia for a visiting group of three dozen graduate students and faculty from the Pazmany Peter Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary. Giragosian’s presentation traced Armenia’s course of democratization, economic development and conflict resolution through the period of independence, with an added focus on the broader context of Armenia’s performance in meeting the UN’s set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals. A discussion, with Dr. Balint Kovacs, the head of the visiting Hungarian group, then followed the presentation.