Read the daily news digest for July 2 here.

The representative of the Armenian POWs Siranush Sahakyan talked about the real goal of the Azerbaijani "mild" verdict

Siranush Sahakyan, the representative of the interests of prisoners and prisoners of war in the ECHR, considers the sentencing of Armenian POWs in Azerbaijan to 4 years and 6 months as an imitation and a tactical step to save the country's reputation.

"From the beginning, we had the position that these were fake criminal cases. Our boys were not involved in any activities other than defending the homeland. Moreover, they did not act on their own initiative but were drafted into the army and received an order from the command to carry out a service in a place that was reaffirmed by the November 9 statement as within the borders of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. It was not handed over to Azerbaijan as a result of the war," Sahakyan said.," Sahakyan said.

According to the human rights activist, the Azerbaijani authorities are under various pressures, with international partners sending signals that the absence of other acts of terrorism is obvious.

In the ECHR Sahakyan stressed that regardless of the six-month or four-year sentence, the Armenian POWs were and still are subject to immediate return. In the ECHR Sahakyan stressed that regardless of the six-month or four-year sentence, the Armenian POWs were and still are subject to immediate return.

"We do not accept it in any way, we do not recognize either the trial or any verdict given as a result of this trial," Sahakyan said.

She added that they will continue to talk about the illegal conviction of prisoners of war in the European Court.

4 bodies found as a result of the search operations

The search for the bodies of the dead and missing servicemen continues.

Today, on July 3, during the search operations carried out in Varanda (Fizuli) and Jrakan (Jabrail) regions, the rescuers found and evacuated 4 bodies from the occupied territories of Artsakh.

According to preliminary data, they are participants in hostilities (conscripts, volunteers, reservists). The identities of the Armenian heroes will be found out after a forensic examination.

It should be noted that from November 13, 2020, to July 3, 2021, 1.595 bodies of people involved in battles have been found and evacuated.

EU to allocate more than 1.5 billion euros to Armenia for five programs

The European Union is going to allocate more than 1.5 billion euros to Armenia in the next 5 years for five key programs, including the development of the Syunik region. The document was presented today in Brussels, highlighting the initiatives that the European Commission intends to implement by 2025 in the member states of the "Eastern Partnership". As for Armenia, the European Commission is planning to support 30.000 small and medium-sized enterprises for a sustainable, innovative, competitive economy; promote socio-economic development and communication by supporting the North-South corridor; do investments in information technology, science, and technology; strengthen the resilience of the southern regions; invest in green Yerevan for energy efficiency and launch environmentally friendly buses.

In addition to Armenia, the European Commission has identified similar programs for other Eastern Partnership member states: Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Ukraine. These plans are expected to be discussed next December at a joint summit of the leaders of the 28 EU member states and members of the Eastern Partnership.

"We want to set an agenda that responds to today's unprecedented challenges and opportunities, while also being viable in the future," said the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.
"All our initiatives will continue to be supported by democracy, good governance, the rule of law, which are so important to achieve positive, certain results in our cooperation," he added.

Armenia confirms 125 new COVID cases and 3 deaths

As of 11:00 on July 3, a total of 225.464 cases of COVID has been confirmed, of which 217.074 have been cured and 4.521 died. 2.769 patients are currently under treatment. A total of 1.197. 651 tests have been performed ever since. Thus, 5.073 tests were performed yesterday, of which 125 new cases of COVID were confirmed. Since yesterday, 97 people have recovered and 3 died.

Iran fears the fifth wave of COVID

Iran could face the fifth wave of COVID-19, as a highly contagious Delta strain of the virus is spreading in the country, according to Reuters, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned.

"There are fears that the whole country could face the fifth wave if insufficient attention is paid to health warnings. Today, it is reported that 69% of people take precautions," Rouhani said.

He said the Delta strain entered the country from the south and southeast.

"We have to be careful to prevent it from spreading in the country. All health regulations must be fully observed, otherwise, we will have a problem," Rouhani added.

Frank Pallone discusses the release of Armenian prisoners of war and the border crisis

Congressman Frank Pallone has discussed the issue of finding ways to strengthen Armenia-US relations with US government officials.

“Had a productive call with officials from the Department of State and the Department of Defense today to discuss ways to bolster the US-Armenian relationship. We also spoke about the important role the US must play in freeing the remaining Armenian POWs in Azeri detention and the ongoing border crisis,” Pallone said in a Twitter post.