WHITE HOUSE SUGGESTS CUTTING MILITARY AID TO ARMENIA

The Bush Administration’s proposed fiscal year 2005 budget, which was released yesterday, would send four times more military assistance to Azerbaijan than Armenia. In the opinion of the Armenian National Committee of America, it will break the military aid parity understanding between the Administration and Congress reached in 2002. The budget includes a proposed $62 million allocation in economic aid to Armenia, reflecting a $13 million decrease from the fiscal year 2004 aid bill approved by Congress. Meanwhile, assistance levels to Azerbaijan remain at $38 million. According to the source, as compared with the previous year, 2005 budget reduces overall assistance to the independent states of the former Soviet Union by approximately $33 million. It should be noted that the budget proposed by the US Administration has be discussed and approved by the Congress.