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Expert: U.S. policy to be less pro-Armenian after midterm congressional elections

Politics Materials 5 November 2010 09:00 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 4 / Trend E.Tariverdiyeva /

After the Republicans gain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, the House is likely to be less pro-Armenian than under the Democrats, Middle East Policy Council in Washington Senior Fellow Mark Katz said

"Especially the House held a pro-Armenian position under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi of California, where Armenian-Americans are an important voting bloc," Katz wrote Trend in an e-mail.

The U.S. Congress held midterm elections on Tuesday. Voters chose the House of Representatives, one third of the Senate and the governors of 37 states. The Republican Party gained control of the House of Representatives, where it now has 60 seats more than the Democrats. The same Democratic Party - President Barack Obama's party -- retained control of the Senate.

U.S. politician, Democrat, and member of the House of Representatives since 1993, Pelosi is a co-chair of a group supporting Armenia in Congress.

Pelosi was elected as the speaker of the U .S. House of Representatives on Jan.4, 2007, becoming the first woman to hold that post in U.S. history. Sixty-year-old John Boehner replaced Pelosi after the election.

However, Katz said, being less pro-Armenian will not make Congress as a whole or U.S. foreign policy more pro-Azerbaijani.

"Given that Congress is divided and President Obama is politically weakened as a result of the elections, I sincerely doubt that there is going to be any U.S. administration that will take any new initiatives toward the South Caucasus," Katz said.

Since Obama's coming to power in the White House, the United States started to pay more attention to internal problems, not to foreign policy. The South Caucasus, representing a considerable interest to Washington, primarily due to the energy routes passing through the region, remained outside the focus of the administration.

The post of U.S. Ambassador in Baku has been left vacant since the previous ambassador, Ann Derse, left it in connection with the completion of her term in July 2009.

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