ANCA calls for close Senate scrutiny of next US Ambassador to Armenia

Armenian Security, Artsakh Aid should be the Focus of Senate Confirmation Hearing

The ANCA’s Aram Hamparian welcomed Ms. Kristina Kvien’s nomination as an opportunity to “fundamentally reset U.S.-Armenia relations”

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is calling on members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee to seek answers from Kristina Kvien – President Biden’s nominee to replace Ambassador Lynne Tracy as US Ambassador to Armenia – regarding American support for Armenia’s security and Artsakh’s survival, during her upcoming confirmation hearing.

President Biden nominated Kvien to the Armenian ambassadorial position in July of this year. If confirmed, she will replace Ambassador Tracy, who is being considered for US Ambassador to Russia. Both Senate confirmation hearings are set to take place on Wednesday, November 30th, starting at 2:30 p.m. EST.

Ambassador Tracy has earned an “F” rating from the ANCA for her consistently poor performance across 15 different performance metrics.

“The Kvien nomination presents an opportunity to reset US-Armenia relations, turning the page on the Tracy era and re-aligning our bilateral ties with actual US interests and authentic American values,” said ANCA executive director Aram Hamparian. “Moving forward, we need to stop giving oil-rich Azerbaijan a veto over US policy and start directly strengthening Armenian security – the sovereignty and safety of Armenians across their ancient, indigenous homeland.”

The ANCA has shared its concerns regarding the Kvien nomination with Senate Foreign Relations Committee members, highlighting a number of policy priorities that can be constructively addressed during the confirmation process. Topics include strengthening bilateral US-Armenia relations, checking Azerbaijani aggression, securing the release of Armenian POWs, facilitating US assistance to Artsakh and putting into real-world practice the administration’s policy recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Kvien is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor. She has served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at US Embassy Kyiv, Ukraine. Previously, Kvien served as Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs at US Embassy Paris, France and as Economic Counselor at US Embassy Bangkok, Thailand. In both Paris and Bangkok, she served more than one year as acting Deputy Chief of Mission. She also served as economic counselor at US Embassy London. Earlier in her career, Kvien worked at the National Security Council, Washington, D.C. as director for EU, Ukraine and Belarus affairs. She has also completed Foreign Service postings at the US Embassy Moscow, Russia; the US Mission to the EU in Brussels; and US Embassy Manila. Domestic assignments have included the Office of European and Regional Affairs and the Office of Central European Affairs, both in the Bureau of Europe and Eurasian Affairs. Kvien, a native of California, holds a BA from Occidental College and an MS from the US Army War College.

ANCA
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is the largest and most influential Armenian-American grassroots organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the United States and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCA actively advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.

1 Comment

  1. I don’t know what is going on. from her background I think she is a “preperer”. She preps the area and the cavalry follows.Well, a hundred years ago they told us that their ships can’t sail to Mount Ararat. Now they are finding out that they can.Armenia needs1. population, 2 himars technology, 3 Battlefield Neutron capability.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*