ANCA Calls for Close Senate Scrutiny of Next U.S. Ambassador to Armenia

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

November 29, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) is calling on members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee to seek answers from Kristina Kvien – President Biden’s nominee to replace Ambassador Lynne Tracy as U.S. 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 U.S. ambassador to Russia. Both Senate confirmation hearings are set to take place on Wednesday, November 30th, starting 2:30pm EST.

Ambassador Tracy has earned an “F” rating from the ANCA for her consistently poor performance across fifteen different performance metrics. The ANCA report card for Ambassador Tracy is available here.

“The Kvien nomination presents an opportunity to reset U.S.-Armenia relations, turning the page on the Tracy era and re-aligning our bilateral ties with actual U.S. interests and authentic American values,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Moving forward, we need to stop giving oil-rich Azerbaijan a veto over U.S. 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 U.S.-Armenia relations, checking Azerbaijani aggression, securing the release of Armenian POWs, facilitating U.S. assistance to Artsakh, and putting into real-world practice the Administration’s policy recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Suggested questions can be reviewed at: anca.org/ArmeniaAmbassador

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 U.S. Embassy Kyiv, Ukraine. Previously, Kvien served as Minister-Counselor for Economic Affairs at U.S. Embassy Paris, France and as Economic Counselor at U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. Embassy Moscow, Russia; the U.S. Mission to the EU in Brussels; and U.S. 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 U.S. Army War College.

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