UK – ARMENIA BILATERAL RELATIONS
A short summary
The UK recognised Armenia on 31 December 1991 and diplomatic relations were established soon afterwards.
The Embassy of the Republic of Armenia was established in October 1992 in London, within the premises of the "Armenian House" at 25A Cheniston Gardens, Kensington.
Between 1992-1996 and 1997-1999 Dr. Armen Sarkissian served as the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United Kingdom. In autumn of 1996 Dr. Armen Sarkissian was appointed Prime Minister of Armenia. He resigned in early 1997 and was reappointed as Ambassador to the Court of St. James's. H.E. Dr. Vahram Abajian served as Armenia's second Ambassador to the UK from 2001 to 2002.
Dr. Vahe Gabrielyan was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's since March 2003. In 2005 he was accredited also to Dublin, becoming Armenia's first Ambassador to Ireland.
The first resident British Ambassador arrived in Yerevan in July 1995 (Previously the Ambassadors in Moscow had been cross-accredited). The current Ambassador, Mr Charles Lonsdale has been appointed in January 2008 in succession to Mr Anthony Cantor who has retired from the Diplomatic Service. In 2003 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office extended the mandate of Sir Brian Fall, United Kingdom Special Representative for Georgia, to cover the South Caucasus. Sir Brian has visited Armenia a number of times to discuss regional issues, with the Armenian officials.
Bilateral projects
The UK has been providing bilateral assistance to Armenia through the Department for International Development (DFID), focused on supporting the Government to improve governance and its institutional environment for poverty reduction in order to promote pro-poor sustainable growth, and help strengthen the UK’s contribution to conflict resolution and peace building in the region.
In 2005 Armenia was included in the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative programme. As part of the program the UK Government has offerd to pay 10 percents of Armenia’s IDA debt repayments.
In early 2006 Armenia achieved lower middle income status (LMIC), leading DFID towards phasing out its bilateral programme by the end of 2008. DFID’s financial support to Armenia during 2007/08 fiscal year is £3.4 million. The DFID bilateral programme to Armenia will close at the end of 2008, DFID is now promoting the roll-out of its piloted activities in order to try to ensure sustainability. The current key activities are:
The Armenia Public Sector Reform Programme (APSREP)which aims to achieve national, regional, and local administrations throughout Armenia with the ability to implement pro-poor policies;
The Armenia Regional Development Programme (ARDEP) is a project, which seeks to strengthen the capacity of two pilot Regional Administrations to develop and implement pro-poor programmes and to influence national strategy;
Support to the Roll-out of Programme Budgeting in Armenia (PBP) is a project aiming to support the Government of Armenia to develop and implement a programme budgeting reform strategy for the whole of the Government.
The Consortium Initiative, a coalition of initially four British non-governmental organisations was established in 2003 to improve the prospects for a resolution of the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. The consortium now comprises of International Alert, Conciliation Resources and LINKS with the financial support of the British Government. Working in different spheres, the initiative seeks to bring together civil society activists, politicians, journalists and ordinary people in an effort to build trust across the conflict divide and encourage communities to engage in addressing a problem of such vital importance to them all.
Cultural Relations with the UK
A Cultural Agreement between the UK and Armenia was signed in London on 9 February 1994. The British Council opened in June 2001 in Yerevan. The British Council in Armenia aim to create an enduring partnership between the UK and Armenia in the areas of arts, English language, education, information, governance and science. It also helps administer the Chevening and John Smith Fellowship scholarships. The Council enjoys a successful and high profile in Armenia and recently celebrated its fifth anniversary.
BAAPPG
The British-Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group (BAAPPG) was founded in 1992 by Earl of Shannon and Mrs. Odette Bazil to promote inter-parliamentary links between Armenia and Britain. Since its establishment, the Group has been at the forefront of British Armenian relations by enhancing the mutual understanding between parliamentarians and people of the UK and Armenia. The Group regularly organizes various conferences and meetings in the Houses of Parliament, dedicated to the Armenian issues, thus raising awareness on Armenia within the UK. Many members of the Group have visited Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, promoting friendship and understanding between the two people. The chair of the Group, the Baroness Cox of Queensbury through her well-known devotion to human rights and humanitarian work worldwide, symbolizes the best of Britishness in Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.
Recent bilateral visits
UK visits
Rt. Hon. Geoff Hoon MP, FCO Minister for Europe, visited Armenia in October 2006. Mr. Hoon was received by the Foreign and Defense Ministers. During the meetings bilateral cooperation issues in the sphere of defence and security as well as within the European Neighbourhood policy were discussed. In the same month, Baroness Scotland, Minister for Criminal Justice at the Home Office, visited Yerevan for the CoE Justice Ministers conference. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, on the invitation of the Catholicos of All Armenians, Garegin II visited Armenia in September 2007. The Archbishop was also received by the President Kocharian and Prime Minister of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.
[Earlier high level visits include Minister of State, Douglas Hogg, visited Armenia twice in 1992/93. The Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, visited Armenia in January 1996. Viscount Goschen, Minister for Transport, visited Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in September/October 1996. Minister Keith Vaz attended the State Funerals of those murdered in the Parliament shooting in October 1999. The FCO PUS, Sir John Kerr, visited Armenia in October 2000. Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester visited Armenia in November 2001 as part of the 1700th anniversary of Christianity celebrations. In November 2005, the Minister for Environment, Elliot Morley, visited Yerevan for the conference of EECCA Ministers of Finance/Economy, Water and Environment on Financing Water Supply and Sanitation in EECCA.]
Armenian visits
In October 2008 H.E. Mr. Edward Nalbandian, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia arrived in London for bilateral meetings. Mr. Nalbandian had meetings with Rt Hon David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Mrs. Caroline Flint MP, Minister for Europe. Minister Nalbandian was hosted at the Parliament by the British-Armenian All-Party Parliamentary Group. He also delivered a speech at the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House) on the new developments in Armenia's foreign policy and regional perspectives. In the framework of his visit to London, Mr. Nalbandian gave interviews to BBC's Russian, Turkish, Azeri and Ukrainian services. Among Minister's other meetings was a gathering with the representatives of the British Armenian Community.
In June 2005 the Foreign Minister of Armenia Mr. Vartan Oskanian visited London and met with his UK counterparts. The Minister also addressed the conference devoted to the 90th anniversary of the Genocide of Armenians held in the Moses Room of the House of Lords.
In February 2006 Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Baiburdian visited UK where he had meetings at the British Council with the members of British-Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group officals from the Forign Office and DFID. Deputy Minister Mr. Arman Kirakossian visited London on the invitation of BAAPPG and addressed the Conference at the House of Lords on the occasion of 15th anniversary of the Independence of Armenia.
In January and May 2007 the Minister of Education and Science of Armenia Mr. Levon Mkrtchyan, visited London on different occasions to participate at the Ministerial conferences on education. Minister Mkrtchyan also visited London in 2008 to participate at the high level conference on vocational education.
[Earlier high level visits include President Ter-Petrossian visit to London as a Guest of Government from 8-11 February 1994, and for V Day commemorations in May 1995. Presidential Adviser Libaridian visited the UK in October 1995 and March 1996. Dr Ararktsian, Chairman of the National Assembly, visited the UK in November 1996. A visit to the UK by Foreign Minister Oskanian took place from 15-18 March 1999. During the visit Oskanian had calls on the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary, as well as Dr Kim Howells, a PUSS at the DTI. Mr Armen Martirosian, Deputy Foreign Minister visited from 13-17 March 2002. His programme included a meeting with Mr Ben Bradshaw MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and a talk at the London School of Economics. Deputy Speaker Tigran Torosyan and Deputy Foreign Minister Armen Baibourtian visited in 2005 and 2006 respectively.]
Regional Cooperation
Lord Byron School in Gyumri linked with Holgate School in Nottinghamshire
Following the devastating earthquake in Armenia in 1988 the Lord Byron School was built in Gyumri /then Leninakan/ by the funds provided by the British Government and donations raised by the British people. The school was opened by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on 10 June 1990 on her first trip to the Soviet Union. Since, a link was formed between the Lord Byron School and the Holgate School, Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. In 1991, Armenian Cross Stone (Khatchkar) was presented to Holgate School in recognition of the work undertaken by Britain following the destructive earthquake of 1988. A Friendship Agreement was signed in 1998 to mark the tie between Hucknall and Gyumri.
High Wycombe linkage with Dilijan and Ijevan
In December 2006 a Declaration of Intentions to recognize a linkage between the towns of High Wycombe of the United Kingdom and Dilijan and Ijevan of the Republic of Armenia was exchanged between the mayors of High Wycombe and Ijevan and Dilijan, whereby a state of linkage and friendship was declared to be existent between the respective communities and institutions. The linkage was signed with the ultimate aim to develop further to the twinning of the towns of High Wycombe and Dilijan and Ijevan. The links were created by the Chiltern Armenian Society under the auspices of the Armenia Embassy in London.
Wales
On 3rd of November, 2007 at Cardiff, Wales, a Monument to the victims of Armenian Genocide was unveiled. The unveiling was carried out by the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly of Wales, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas and Dr. Vahe Gabrielyan, the Armenian Ambassador to the United Kingdom. This is the first and still the only monument to the victims of the Armenian Genocide erected on public land in Britain. The Genocide Monument built with an Armenian design by a Welsh stonemason is also meant to symbolise the friendship and the historic bonds existing between the Welsh and Armenians. Permission to erect the Stone Cross monument/ Khatchkar/, was granted by the United Nations Association Wales on land owned by the National Assembly of Wales. The small Welsh-Armenian community, under the leadership of John Torosyan, chairman of the ”Wales-Armenia Solidarity” NGO, were responsible for the arrangements to achieve the realisation of this project.
Business
A number of UK based businesses are successfully operating in Armenia. Among the larger ones are the HSBC bank, Air carrier BMI, “London-Yerevan” insurance company, the “Glaxo Wellcome” pharmaceutical company, diamond processing factory “Diamond Company of Armenia”, and others.
