Azerbaijan's recent aggression has once again demonstrated that this country is not capable of following any reached agreements, especially if they are not backed by superpowers and are not under their supervision. The reaction of the key international actors to recent events reveals that a new military escalation in the region proceeds solely out the interests of the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem and not one of the superpowers is interested in it. Taking into account the latest large-scale military aggression by Azerbaijan against the sovereign borders of Armenia, the "LUYS" Foundation came up with a package of proposals for diplomatic steps.

In the present analysis, given the data published by the Statistical Committee of the RA, we study the recent social-economic developments in the economy of the RA. In particular, we consider the cumulative indicator of economic activity of the given month, its sectoral distribution, as well as the dynamics of individual sectors of the economy. We also analyze economic developments in the foreign trade, labour market and fiscal system of the RA. In addition, some aspects of the financial system (inflation, deposits and loans), as well as the behaviour of the exchange rate, are touched upon. Full material is only available in Armenian.

Recently, an activation of Armenian-American relations has been noticeable with a significant increase of high-level phone calls and meetings. This is not connected to the update of the bilateral agenda or the increase of diplomatic efforts. Such activations of relations were also noticeable in the past and were mostly the result of the American regional interests. This article distinguishes four stages of the activation of Armenian-American relations, the study of three of those highlights general patterns and motives for the activation of relations. Based on the above, an explanation is given for the prerequisites of the emergence of the fourth, currently ongoing stage. Full material is only available in Armenian․

Immediately after the collapse of the USSR, a number of well-known experts argued that democratic regimes would quickly be established in the newly independent states. Later, in the early 2000s, it became clear that a much more complex and unprecedented process was underway - the post-Soviet transformation. The countries appeared in that process differ both in their trajectories and goals. According to this classification, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova belonged to the same group of countries aspiring to the formation of democratic regimes, which were included in the new “EU Eastern Partnership” initiative in 2009 in order to support democratization processes. From the point of view of the establishment of consolidated democratic regimes in post-communist countries, the formation of stable and representative party systems is of exceptional exemplary importance. The realization of this goal is possible through the institutionalization of political parties and party systems, as a result of which these structures are given proper content, and their activities are based on principles and values. This process failed in the post-Soviet transformational countries, hindering the formation of democratic regimes. Moreover, this also happened in three countries (Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine), where "color" revolutions took place, one of the main goals of which was the establishment of democratic regimes. In order to find out why these failures occurred and what are the possibilities for a way out of the situation, the article analyzes the events related to the formation of political parties and party systems in the most comparable countries during the post-Soviet transformation period, Georgia and Ukraine, which were considered in a two-stage format, during “color’’ revolutions and after them. The analysis of the results of these periods shows that these stages do not have significant differences in terms of the process of democratization in the observed countries and, in particular, the institutionalization of political parties and party systems. Full material is only available in Armenian․

The objective of the present analysis is to assess the execution of the state budget of the RA in the given period. First, we describe the general state of the economy of the RA, namely the driving forces of economic activity, the developments in individual sectors of the economy, the behavior of the components of the demand – consumption and investment – and so on. Afterwards, we analyze the performance of government revenues and expenditures by comparing the actual and planned values of the respective indicators. We conclude the analysis by summarizing the main observations and results. Full material is only available in Armenian․

On 30 July, 2021, the National Assembly adopted the law by establishing criminal liability for grave insult. The RA Constitutional Court recognized Article 137.1 of the Criminal Code as conforming to the Constitution. Meanwhile, it should be noted that insult and defamation were decriminalized in Armenia in 2010. Thus, it turned out that the Constitutional Court, being called to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution, was driven to the political motives of the legislative and executive authorities, forming a dangerous jurisprudence of the permissibility of restrictions on the rights of freedom of speech and expression of opinion. With this study, “Luys” Foundation has made an attempt to highlight the problematic conclusions made in the decision of the Constitutional Court. The study proves that both Article 137.1 of the RA Criminal Code and the legal positions justifying the criminalization of grave insult by the Constitutional Court lead to deep dangers of violating the right to freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 42 of the Constitution. Full material is only available in Armenian.

The study of indicators and indices published by international organizations allows to address two important problems. First, to assess the performance of the RA in the given period with the help of comprehensive numerical measures, as well as to make intertemporal comparisons in order to understand whether the country moves in the desirable direction. Second, to compare the performance of the RA with other countries to ascertain Armenia’s relative position in the region and Eurasian Economic Union. These results are important, since they help to derive the comprehensive assessment of the economic situation, which is needed both for the public and the private sector. The present analysis is aimed at addressing the foregoing problems. Full material is only available in Armenian.

In the present analysis, given the data published by the Statistical Committee of the RA, we study the recent social-economic developments in the economy of the RA. In particular, we consider the cumulative indicator of economic activity of the given month, its sectoral distribution, as well as the dynamics of individual sectors of the economy. We also analyze economic developments in the foreign trade, labour market and fiscal system of the RA. In addition, some aspects of the financial system (inflation, deposits and loans), as well as the behaviour of the exchange rate, are touched upon. Full material is only available in Armenian.

The primary document that defines the medium-term (that is, for the upcoming three years) objectives of the government of the RA is the framework of public medium-term expenditures (MTEF), which is at the same time one of the main tools for fiscal policy communication. The effective use of the MTEF for that purpose is especially important in both crisis and post-crisis periods, as it can give policy signals to economic agents, positively affect expectations and decrease the uncertainty in the economy. The present analysis is aimed at exploring the MTEF for 2023-2025, in particular the structure of the program, the main macroeconomic forecasts and directions of fiscal policy, which reflect the government's expectations regarding the further development of the economic situation as well as government actions to ensure a rapid economic recovery. Since the government's debt burden exceeded the legal limit in 2020, the analysis also considers the government's debt reduction revised program for 2022-2026. Full material is only available in Armenian.