Political and economic news with a Baltic accent

It’s no secret that the Trump administration, in office for almost 16 months now, has a devilish time filling top positions. An unprecedented number of plum jobs in our nation’s capital, including senior ones of the kind that Beltway wannabes fight hard for, don’t have people in them. Here, White House laziness and its selection of troubled candidates who have difficulty getting confirmed have both played a role. It seems likely that some of these jobs may never get filled as long as Donald Trump is our president.

Moldovan olischgarh and gray cardinal Vlad Plahotniuc

Even many ambassadorships remain unoccupied. Seemingly, it’s the Washington custom to dole these out to friends and major donors rather quickly but even here Team Trump has been lackadaisical about appointments. Take the case of Germany, a key ally and the European Union’s most important country. Only this week did our new ambassador report for duty in Berlin, following an extended confirmation saga that lasted nearly a year.

The Senate was in no hurry to give the nominee, Ric Grenell, its endorsement, leading to right-wing charges that this had something to do with the fact that Grenell is openly gay. There’s no evidence for that accusation, and it’s not exactly clear why it took the Senate so long to approve Grenell, though it may have something to do with his lack of diplomatic qualifications.

Trump appointed him because he was an early endorser of his candidacy, and Grenell, a Fox News regular, has been a vehement public defender of the increasingly beleaguered White House. His sole relevant experience was serving as spokesman for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from 2001 to 2008. In that role, Grenell, a right-wing ideologue, was noted for his tenaciousness with the media, leading some of them to memorably describe him as “unbearable,” “rude,” “arrogant,” and a “bully.”

Over the past decade, Grenell has continued acting that way, especially on Twitter, where his pugnacious dealings with reporters and others have been a subject of both scorn and laughter. In 2012, he deleted nearly a thousand of his most offensive tweets when he served very briefly as spokesman for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. Since then, Grenell’s online habits have continued and, while that may have been disqualifying in the past, Trump had no qualms about appointing a fellow angry Twitter troll to a sensitive diplomatic post.

American Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell

Although Germany is a close ally, Washington’s relations with that pivotal country have been touchy in recent years. German affection for President Barack Obama, once deep, soured over two terms, while Trump is widely loathed in Germany as an uncouth and ugly American, half-bully and half-fool. We need a skilled ambassador in Berlin right now. Yet, in a manner unprecedented in the annals of American diplomacy, Grenell reverted to his Twitter trolling and managed to deeply offend his hosts on his very first day in Berlin.

On Tuesday, within hours of getting down to work, Grenell tweeted out support of the president’s ditching of the Iran nuclear deal: “U.S. sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.” The reaction in Germany was swift and harsh, as people across the political spectrum observed that America’s new ambassador in Berlin clearly viewed himself more as a colonial governor than a partner. Friends don’t publicly order friends what to do.

The politest smackdown came from Wolfgang Ischinger, who served as Gemany’s ambassador in Washington for half of a decade, who tweeted: “Ric: my advice, after a long ambassadorial career: explain your own country’s policies, and lobby the host country – but never tell the host country what to do, if you want to stay out of trouble. Germans are eager to listen, but they will resent instructions.” Grenell lamely retorted that he was only stating what the White House told him to—which, given German views on the “I was only following orders” excuse, failed to repair the damage.

On his very first day, Ric Grenell destroyed his relationship with Germany by acting like the blowhard Trumpist flack that his detractors said he was. It now makes sense why the Republican-controlled Senate took so long to confirm his appointment. Any normal White House would now call Ambassador Grenell back to Washington “for consultations” and make sure he never returns to Berlin. However, any normal White House would never have appointed someone so cluelessly defective as Grenell to any important diplomatic post in the first place.

The problem with Ric Grenell is greater than his lack of manners or understanding of how diplomacy is conducted. His bread and butter for years has been serving as a political consultant and advisor. He founded Capital Media Partners in 2009, which has offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C, to assist clients with “international strategic communications.” Grenell boasts of having “clients based in the U.S. as well as Iran, Kazakhstan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, China, Australia, Timor-Leste, and throughout Europe.” These days, when close associates of Trump such as Paul Manafort and Mike Flynn have gotten into legal trouble by failing to file with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, known as FARA, it’s valid to ask whether Grenell complied with the law here.

Moreover, what does “throughout Europe” mean? Here we need to discuss Moldova, a benighted little country that few Americans ever think about, yet which became a subject of brief, intense interest to Grenell shortly before our 2016 election. The poorest corner of Europe, where the average salary is not much more than $200 monthly, Moldova barely has any legitimate economy, and the former Soviet republic is a watchword for hopelessness. The country is known for its out-of-control corruption and crime, particularly its lurid role in the illegal trade of sex slaves. Moldova’s main industry is the selling of its young women, often children, to human traffickers, who dispatch them around the globe to be exploited.

Grenell, who does not seem to have shown any interest in that troubled country before or since, oddly published four American op-eds between mid-August and mid-October 2016, extolling Moldova’s virtues. According to Grenell, brave little Moldova was standing up to illegal Russian influence—a strange take, given the author’s general tendency to rudely blow off accusations of Kremlin malfeasance when they involve President Trump. To anyone versed in Moldova’s nasty and obscure politics—not a large group in America—Grenell was going to bat for Vladimir Plahotniuc, the most powerful political player in Moldova, not to mention the country’s wealthiest oligarch.

In the summer of 2016, Plahotniuc’s charmed life as his country’s “most feared tycoon” (in the words of the New York Times, which termed him “Moldova’s most-feared figure, a nominally pro-Western tycoon with a reputation so toxic that even his political friends usually try to keep their distance in public”) hit a rough patch when Mihail Gofman, the country’s anti-corruption czar, went public. Seeking safety in America, Gofman explained to the FBI how Plahotniuc oversaw the theft of $1 billion from Moldova’s state treasury—one-eighth of the country’s annual GDP—then laundered it with Kremlin help. Gofman’s fears for his future were well founded. When Moldova’s former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, a sincere Kremlin opponent, denounced Plahotniuc for his role in the billion-dollar-theft, he was arrested and sentenced to nine years in prison, reputedly on Plahotniuc’s orders.

Gofman’s account, which confirmed what many Western intelligence agencies suspected, exploded Plahotniuc’s carefully crafted myth of being “pro-Western” as head of the Democratic Party of Moldova, which manages to control the country’s politics, despite never getting even one-fifth of the votes in any election. In fact, Plahotniuc—termed “Moldova’s Donald Trump”—is deeply in bed with Russian organized crime, specifically the notorious Solntsevo Brotherhood led by Semyon Mogilevich, according to INTERPOL.

Nevertheless, in his 2016 op-eds, Grenell insisted that Gofman was wrong, and Plahotniuc was really a pro-Western figure under Kremlin attack. Grenell, who falsely claimed that Gofman was under Russian influence (“a former Moldovan official with ties to Russia and disguised as a whistleblower,” as he put it), even attacked a U.S. Congressman, Randy Weber, a Texas Republican, who tried to assist Gofman in exposing Moldovan crime and corruption, tarring Rep. Weber as pro-Kremlin. Grenell stated in an interview just two weeks before our 2016 election that Rep. Weber “does not know what he is doing,” lambasting the congressman’s resolution on Moldova, which was critical of Plahotniuc, as “Clearly written by somebody who is pro-Russian. He’s trying to attack the only pro-European group in Moldova.”

It’s worth asking why Grenell developed a sudden and passionate need to defend Vlad Plahotniuc. Presumably this wasn’t an act of charity, but Grenell has failed to disclose what motivated his spirited public defense of Moldova’s top oligarch-cum-crime boss. His financial disclosure forms submitted for his appointment as ambassador to Berlin reveal that over the past year Grenell made $688,362 from Capitol Media Partners, i.e. for political consulting. For whom, however, is unclear.

Yet there is a clue lurking in the list of entities which Grenell made more than $5,000 from, namely Arthur J. Finkelstein & Associates. A legendary Republican political operative, Art Finkelstein played a role in Ronald Reagan’s rise to the White House, and subsequently plied his trade around the world. Famously, Finkelstein turned around the political career of Bibi Netanyahu, transforming Israeli politics in the 1990s. Finkelstein and Grenell were close, with the former serving as a mentor to the latter. Finkelstein’s firm also did work in Moldova as recently as 2014, and is known by Western intelligence to possess links to Plahotniuc. However, Art Finkelstein died last summer and isn’t available to explain what Ric Grenell did for him to receive payment in excess of $5,000.

This is an important matter since Plahotniuc isn’t just a corrupt oligarch who stands plausibly accused of robbing his impoverished country blind. He’s also a human trafficker, in fact the leading one in Moldova. INTERPOL admitted his role in human trafficking in 2012, based on an Italian request. Although Plahotniuc has never been charged with this crime, this isn’t surprising given the influence he possesses over Moldova’s highly corrupt judiciary. Sergiu Mocanu, one of the few Moldovan politicians brave enough to speak out, stated, “Plahotniuc was involved in human trafficking, he was a pimp, he received money from this business.”

What Plahotniuc really is represents one of the worst-kept secrets in Eastern Europe. His criminal enterprises are well known to Western intelligence and police agencies. If Ambassador Grenell went to bat for Plahotniuc for money, the American public deserves to know how much and from whom. This should have been unmasked during Grenell’s Senate confirmation process. Why it was not should be asked as well.

John R. Schindler 

Popular in Russia and the post-Soviet space action “Immortal Regiment” was held in the center of Liège on the eve of the next Victory Day celebration. Let me remind you that in our Belgium, as well as in almost all of Europe, on May 9th is a full-time working day, therefore former USSR citizens hold mass events on the last weekend until May 9th.

Memorial ceremony in Belgian Liege was held by the public organization of Russian compatriots “Meridian” with the support of the Russian Embassy. In addition, the action was attended by members of the Tajik community in Liege. About 100 people, including the leadership of the Tajik community in Belgium, attended the memory event.
In total, the action was attended by over 300 people from all over the kingdom, including many children. The two-hour ceremony with laying wreaths and flowers to the graves of Soviet soldiers, an Orthodox panihida, the performance of gymnasts from the Brussels children’s studio “Impulse” culminated in the procession of the “Immortal Regiment” – from the graves to the monument to the Soviet soldiers of the Belgian Resistance, extending more than a kilometer along the Citadel memorial complex.
I recall that during the occupation of Belgium from 1940 to 1944 in the Citadel of Liege, the occupation authorities arranged a prison, where up to 1,500 prisoners of war and Resistance fighters were held. In total, over 450 people were shot in the prison during the years of occupation. On the territory of the Citadel of Liège are 32 Soviet graves.
However, it is surprising not the event itself and not the history of the Belgian resistance, but the fact that in one day, on one occasion, the peoples that in the past united the Soviet Union, and now are separated, together, as one people and one force participate in the event. It turns out that in the face of the memory of the terrible war and the great victory of the fascist-free frontier between the peoples of the former USSR, they are being erased again and one large nation appears before us. I was that witness and saw how Tajiks, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians together participate in the “Immortal Regiment” action. This once again shows that, despite political differences, borders and other information background, these peoples will still be united by their memory.

Stan Ptak

On the eve of the 73rd anniversary of the end of the Second World War, historians around the world have noted an increasing number of distortions in the details of the war and a reassessment of its results. Unfortunately, the reevaluation of the results of the Second World War is the work of our European and American colleagues. And this is done in the general political outline of the information counteraction to Russian propaganda. However, the main drama and tragedy of the 20th century can not be an instrument of manipulation and justification of modern nationalism.

Historians easily cite examples of such falsifications. For example, allegedly Germany attacked the USSR as a preventive measure, since the Soviet Union could attack first. Independent experts note that it is evident from the disclosed German archives that the Barbarossa plan was developed without regard for such an option.

Another object for falsification is the role of Lend-Lease in the victory of the Red Army. Historians note two extremes in assessing this issue. During Soviet times, it was stressed that the weapons, fuel, products sent were just a few percent of Soviet equipment and resources. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, on the contrary, they began to say that without the help of the West, the war would not have been won.

There is also a reassessment of the actions of Soviet troops in Eastern Europe. Independent historians call one of the most effective information speculations on the theme of World War II – the myth of millions of rapes in Germany. Some historians admit that some cases of violence by the Red Army might have been, but not on such a scale as to be confused in Europe and the US. Most importantly, the cases of violence in the war were seen in the Red Army as a real crime and severely punished. What can we say about the cases of military violence among civilians during the Vietnam or Korean war?

Collaboration is one of the most painful issues. Historians note that there was even the concept of the 2nd Civil War in the framework of the participation of the USSR in the Second World War. And in the Baltic countries and in Ukraine, various collaborative formations are now considered a liberation movement.

The human rights defender and historian from Finland Johan Beckmann spoke about the situation in the Baltic countries. In his opinion, new assessments of the war in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and now in Ukraine are aimed at increasing anti-Russian sentiment. “The problem exists primarily because other Western countries support the Baltic region and deny the existence of neo-fascism. Some members of the European Parliament do not know that the Russians do not have political rights there. If we say this to them, they answer that this is Kremlin propaganda, “said Johan Beckmann.

Beckman noted that the SS veterans in the three Baltic republics openly gather, receiving official support from the authorities. Organizers explain such actions by the fact that members of these formations fought for independence, and not for the interests of the Reich. Only partly this is true for the case with Latvia, since in isolated cases there were recorded skirmishes between German and Latvian parts.

Professor of the University of Minnesota in the US Todd Jeffrey Lefko believes that neo-fascism is growing because of instability and distrust of social and state institutions, as well as a double interpretation of the difficult legacy of World War II. At the same time, the American historian notes that there are always people who feel hatred for certain groups, but much depends on the state’s attitude to such manifestations. The dissemination of such ideas is also helped by modern means of communication. “The assessment of the role of the USSR in the Second World War has changed and is changing because of the political situation. During the war years we were allies, and in the United States we even wanted to make the film “Uncle Joe” (the so-called Stalin). But after the war, when there was a mutual nuclear threat, everything changed dramatically,” Todd Jeffrey Lefko said. According to historians, anti-Russian rhetoric is popular in the Western world today, therefore it is profitable to distort the results of the Second World War, weakening the contribution of the USSR and multiplying the influence of the coalition forces on the results of the war. However, independent historians perfectly understand that the US got involved in the war only at a time when the German army had already suffered serious damage from the Soviet army in the East of Europe and was essentially doomed. To enter the war when the enemy is doomed is a strategically correct move, but after 50 and 70 years of dealing with the distortion of facts – it is not too correct and beautiful to engage in such a powerful power as the US.

But let us return to the growth of nationalism and neo-fascism against the background of information hiding the true horror of fascism in the period before and during the Second World War. The sharp growth of neo-Nazism in Ukraine after the change of power in 2014 was spoken by Polish publicist Adam Smiech. “Ukrainian nationalism in this incarnation has returned from non-existence. And thanks to the efforts of the nationalists, a coup was carried out, “Adam Smiech said.

Adam Smiech was in Western Ukraine and the growth of nationalistic sentiment there, when in the region there appeared more and more monuments to the figures of nationalist organizations and military formations, calls banderization. The Polish publicist pointed to a conflict in the work of official Warsaw with the new Ukrainian authorities. Anti-Russian sentiments are supported, but the positive attitude of the new authorities towards Ukrainian nationalists is not welcomed, as thousands of Poles who lived on the territory of the four voivodships that are now part of Ukraine died during their war.

About what to do so that the history of war is not overturned, it is necessary to file history not for a tick and not for the sake of political conjuncture, but as a legacy of the departed generations to future generations. Otherwise, we all run the risk of becoming proverbial heroes: You keep making mistakes, Winston.

Ilmars Dubra

 

Since April 2018 protests of people who are dissatisfied with the course of former head of state S. Sargsyan continue in the capital of the Republic of Armenia – the city of Yerevan. On April 24, the Prime Minister resigned under the pressure of open discontent of the country’s population, who opposes corruption, poverty and the desire of S. Sargsyan to extend his stay in power, which continues from 2008.

In these conditions, one should pay attention to the leader of the “velvet revolution” – N. Pashinyan, a member of the parliamentary opposition bloc “Elk”. As the oppositionist said: “Velvet revolution is aimed at preventing Serzh Sargsyan from usurping all state institutions, this popular movement, which advocates that the power pass into the hands of the people.” Thus, the opposition is trying to convey to the audience, including the European one a clear message – the people who come to the streets themselves will do their will and eliminate the usurper.

However, it is worth asking the question: where does the “blood” of the revolution come from, money? After all, only the willpower and charisma of a leader without financial recharge will not lead people to the streets.

Initially, N. Pashinyan worked out the “order” of S. Sargsyan himself, who intended to organize protests under his control in the country, for which he passed money to the opposition through an approximate oligarch S. Aleksanyan.

But later N. Pashinyan, who felt his strength, began to look for a new sponsor of the protests and was determined to finish them not by the scenario stipulated by S. Sargsyan. At that moment, the US Embassy in Yerevan donated $ 100,000 to him, collected by the “Armenian National Congress of America” ​​(ANCA) and “manual oppositionist” out of control of the former prime minister.

In addition to N. Pashinyan, Americans in recent days have allocated $ 40,000 to Heritage Party representative D. Sanasaryan and a similar amount to L. Barseghian from the Asparez Journalist Club, who also actively supported the opposition rallies.

These US actions would not cause any surprise, since they fully fit into the strategy they are implementing, which began with the “Arab Spring” in Tunisia. However … Armenia is a country that signed last year an agreement on partnership with the European Union. This is a new and actively studied by European business platform for investment, a market for the sale of products and a consumer of high technologies. In particular, the ongoing negotiations on the gradual transition of the country to “green energy” are being conducted precisely with European partners.

If we consider the situation through the prism of business, a logical association arises-an attempt to destabilize the country and plunge it into chaos is a direct attempt by Washington to eliminate European competitors from the prospective Transcaucasian market.

Arthur Zargaryan

Greece should emerge from its third and final bailout in a few months’ time without the need for a backup loan from its creditors, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said.

Juncker spoke after meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ahead of a eurozone finance ministers’ meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, where Greece’s finance minister will present his country’s post-bailout plans.

Greece’s central bank has advocated the country take a so-called “precautionary credit line” after it exits its bailout this August, in order to ease it back into the global financial markets it lost access to in 2010. But the move could be politically unpopular as it would likely involve the imposition of yet more austerity measures and heavier international oversight of the Greek economy.

“There will be no precautionary line because we must do everything so that Greece’s exit from the program is the clearest and cleanest possible,” Juncker said at a joint news conference with Tsipras.

The Greek prime minister said his country was “very close to achieving and we will achieve what we call a ‘clean exit’.”

“That is what happened with other countries that were in a program and completed them successfully,” he said.

Tsipras’ left-led coalition government has promised lenders it will continue infrastructure privatization and draconian spending controls after the bailout program ends in late August, in exchange for more favorable repayment debt terms.

Juncker praised Greece’s progress so far, noting it had managed to turn a budget deficit that stood at 15.1 percent in 2009 into a budget surplus of 0.8 percent in 2017.

“It is absolutely remarkable,” Juncker said, “and it is now (time) to consolidate the results.”

He stressed Greece must continue to implement the reforms it has committed to, which include further spending and pension cuts, tax hikes and an ambitious privatization program.

“We will now have to concentrate on the problem of reducing the debt,” he said, adding that all EU member states should adhere to commitments they have made.

Greece’s creditors have promised to provide some form of debt relief to help the country get back on its feet.

“We are close to a very important target to settle the outstanding issues that remain for debt relief measures,” Tsipras said. He noted that the better-than-expected performance of the Greek economy was “a pleasant surprise for all our partners over the last three years and was instrumental in rebuilding the trust that was lost … but it is a fact that Greece, the Greek government, promised many things for many years but did not abide by many of their commitments.”

Greece has depended on international bailouts since 2010, and has had to push through stringent austerity measures in return. At the height of the crisis Greece repeatedly came to the brink of crashing out of the euro, the common currency used by 19 EU members.

In Armenia, the Russian language today remains the first and mandatory for learning a foreign language. Despite this, the position of the Russian language in the country and its status periodically becomes the topic of heated discussions.

Maria Kalpakchyan graduated from high school in Moscow, but entered the university in Yerevan and now studies as a journalist. She is one of about three thousand students of the Russian-Armenian University, which was opened in Yerevan twenty years ago.

With her, a second-year student, we met in the courtyard of the university. By us, there are groups of students who speak something in Russian, then in Armenian.

“Abroad, of course, English is more important, but if you live in Armenia, even if you have the basics of the Russian language,” Maria says confidently.

With the fact that the Russian nobility in Armenia is necessary, agree standing students. On the question of whether the Russian language should have the status of state in Armenia, the interlocutors react emotionally.

“This is the same as saying that in Russia, apart from the Russian language, all the other languages ​​spoken are supposed to have state status.” No, of course not, and there is no way! “- cuts Maria’s interlocutor, Liza Nazaryan.

Lisa studies as a philosopher. She graduated from the Armenian school, but speaks fluent Russian. The textbooks on which she studies are mostly also published in Russian.

“Since my childhood, I’ve traveled a lot to Russia in the summer.” The Russian language for me is native, almost on par with the Armenian language, maybe even a little more, but I do not belittle the status of the Armenian language, “she explains.

Many people share this mood in Armenia. Despite the wide spread of the Russian language, attempts to question the status of the Armenian as the only state language, cause a painful reaction in the Armenian society.

Today, Armenia is Russia’s faithful ally in the South Caucasus and the only member of the EEA, where the Russian has no official or official language status. In a country with a population of about three million, the Russian language is called home to less than 1% of the population.

But on the streets of the Armenian capital there are often signs in Russian, and, according to official data, more than half of the residents speak fluent Russian.

In the media, meanwhile, periodically there are materials about problems with the knowledge of the Russian language among the population of Armenia and discussions on the possible provision of the Russian language with an official status are beginning to flare up.

“The idea of ​​Russian as a second language in Armenia is constantly being pushed in. It’s like a sausage inside a sandwich – it’s not visible, but it’s there,” says Ruben Mehrabyan, an expert at the Armenian Institute of International Relations and Security.

In July of this year, a stir in Armenia was triggered by the statement of the Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, who proposed to consolidate the status of the Russian language as official in Armenia.

He explained this proposal came into force in Russia, a new law that prohibits drivers with foreign rights to work in Russia.

“I can say only one thing: fix the Russian language as official, and then the norm of the law will automatically cover the Republic of Armenia,” Volodin said at a meeting with the chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ara Babloyan.

Presented in September by the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science for public discussion, the separate concept of studying the Russian language only added fuel to the fire and triggered a new wave of suspicion.

The ministry says that the fears of the public have no basis, and the concept itself – for both Russian and other foreign languages ​​- was created with the goal of increasing the effectiveness of teaching, taking into account various methods and experience.

“The main concern was that there was a gradual introduction of the Russian language as a state language … Nobody had such an idea and purpose … In this concept, in the first sentence, what is fixed at the legislative level is written: the state language in Armenia is Armenian, and no one doubts this, “Deputy Minister of Education and Science David Sahakyan.

According to him, the creation of the concept separately for the Russian was in fact due to the fact that the Russian language is the first foreign language that is compulsorily studied in schools in Armenia.

In addition, there is another reason for isolating the Russian language from other languages, for which a separate concept was also developed: the Cyrillic alphabet is used in Russian, and the Latin alphabet in Russian, Sahakyan says.

“Of course, the history of Armenia and Russia is so connected that it is simply impossible to detract from the dignity of owning the Russian language, but knowing the languages, including the Russian language, is a requirement of modern students,” says Ruzanna Sarukhanyan, the 29th senior school located in the center of Yerevan. .

Walls of the corridor and classrooms of the school are decorated with posters in Armenian and in Russian, as well as portraits of Russian writers. A few Russian classes are open at the school, where 109 pupils study – this is approximately one sixth of all students in the school.

According to Sarukhanyan, there was a period when the Russian language intensively left Armenia, but today the interest in learning the Russian language, like other foreign languages, is high.

During the Soviet era, there were both Russian and Armenian schools in Armenia. According to Arshak Sargsyan, Executive Secretary of the Armenian Association of Russianists and Director of the Institute of Russian Literature of RAU, the quality of teaching in them was considered to be better, therefore some ethnic Armenians gave their children to Russian schools.

In the early 1990s, all public schools began to switch to the Armenian language of instruction. This process was rather painful for those Armenians who studied in Russian schools, he says.

“Before the sixth grade, the schoolchildren were transferred to an Armenian school, and they gradually switched to the Armenian language, and those who were older were allowed to finish their studies,” Sargsyan said. “But it was done abruptly, not everyone liked it, but I think it’s correctly”.

Since that time, Armenian public schools have been taught in Armenian, but there are classes where they teach in Russian.

To study in such classes, according to the Deputy Minister of Education and Science, only representatives of national minorities, children whose one or both parents are not citizens of Armenia or those who have studied at least five years in a Russian school, are entitled.

At the same time, Russian takes the place of the first and compulsory for teaching a foreign language, which is taught from the second class. The second foreign language – English, German or French, depending on the choice of the school, is introduced into the school curriculum as early as the third grade.

Meanwhile, Armenian applicants and students are offered training in educational institutions in Russia. According to the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Yerevan, the Russian side annually allocates about 200 state scholarships for Armenian citizens at the expense of the federal budget.

In Armenia itself, in addition to the Russian-Armenian University, according to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, there are seven branches of Russian universities, including the Moscow State University branch in Yerevan.

According to Sarkisian, Russian remains the language of education for youth, and in Armenian universities the number of textbooks in Russian continues to prevail over textbooks in English or Armenian.

But many analysts believe that such a priority of the Russian language as the first and compulsory for studying does not meet the requirements of the present.

Most of the students of Armenian universities continue to use Russian textbooks because of their greater accessibility and insufficient level of English knowledge, Agasi Tadevosyan, a cultural anthropologist and candidate of historical sciences agrees.

Arthur Zargaryan

In the latest episode of the “In Between Europe” podcast, the hosts speak with Zsuzsanna Szelényi, an independent MP in the outgoing Hungarian parliament to make sense of Fidesz’s third supermajority and explore the future trajectory of Hungary’s politics. History Minute: Gramsci and the Rural Vote in Hungarian History.

In Between Europe is a podcast that discusses politics and current events in Central Europe, bringing you experts and a history minute for each episode. The show is hosted by Zselyke Csaky and Gergely Romsics.

Zselyke Csaky is a senior researcher at Freedom House’s Nations in Transit publication. She regularly writes about Central Europe and issues related to human rights.

Gergely Romsics is a senior fellow with the Research Center for the Humanities–Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His interests include the study of ideologies and political theory in Central Europe.

 

U.S. President Donald Trump along with his administration’s security aides mulled U.S. options on Syria, where he has threatened missile attacks in reaction to an alleged poison gas attack.

Concerns regarding a confrontation between Russia and the Western allies have been escalated since Trump said on Wednesday that missiles will be launched in response to a chemical gas attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7, and criciticized Moscow for siding with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. leader cooled his heated remarks on Thursday and while he discussed his military options with allies such as Britain and France, who could participate in any U.S.-led strikes on Syria, there were indications of efforts to stop the crisis from going out of control. Trump has spoken to British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday, while he is due to speak with French President Emmanuel Macron. Trump denied on Twitter that he said when an attack on Syria would occur, stating that it could happen ‘very soon or not so soon at all’. Later in the day, Trump convened with his national security team on the Syrian crisis. In a statement, the White House said that “no final decision” has been made and that they are continuing to evaluate intelligence and are in talks with partners and allies. But such statement did not necessarily indicate that Trump was pulling away from the idea of military action. Global stock markets showed signs of recovery after Trump’s hint that a military attack might not be imminent.

 

The U.S. government ran a $209 billion budget deficit in March as outlays grew and receipts fell, the Treasury Department said. That compared with a budget deficit of $176 billion in the same month last year, according to Treasury’s monthly budget statement.

When accounting for calendar adjustments, the deficit was $165 billion in March compared with an adjusted deficit of $134 billion in the same month the previous year. The deficit for the fiscal year, which started in October, was $600 billion, compared to a deficit of $527 billion in the same period of fiscal 2017. Unadjusted receipts last month totaled $211 billion, down three percent from March 2017, while unadjusted outlays increased to $420 billion, which is seven percent higher from the same month the previous year. The Congressional Budget Office had expected a $207 billion deficit for March. The nonpartisan agency said this March had one less business day than March 2017, and a smaller share of wage income is being withheld this year for taxes. The CBO recently forecast that the federal deficit will reach $804 billion in fiscal 2018, up from $665 billion in fiscal 2017. It increased its estimate for this year’s deficit mostly due to recent legislation that cut taxes and increased spending on the military and domestic programs. It had already expected widening deficits in the coming years as outlays, including spending on programs like Social Security and Medicare, rise faster than revenue.