Protestors throw vegetables and eggs at Belarusian Embassy in Armenia
During the protest, a statement signed by six political parties and civil society organisations was read out, urging the Armenian government to ‘immediately’ sever diplomatic relations with Belarus ‘until the dismissal of dictator Lukashenka’.
Other demands included declaring the ambassador of Belarus and Belarusian diplomatic staff in Armenia as Persona Non-Grata, and to terminate all bilateral agreements with Belarus, including the visa-free entrance of Belarusian nationals to Armenia. The statement also demanded Armenia leave the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Commonwealth of Independent States, stating that it was impossible to be in the same military alliance and economic and customs zones as Belarus.
This action, which the organisers called the ‘collective attitude’ of the Armenian people, came as a response to the statements of President Lukashenka, who questioned Armenia’s foreign policy in an interview with Russian TV channel Rossiya last week, saying ‘Who needs Armenians besides us? No one’.
He also advised Armenia to ‘develop their economy and focus on what they have’ and suggested that France and the West would soon ‘forget about Armenia’.
The interview went viral earlier this week after coverage by the Belarusian media agency Belta.
‘Lukashenka carries out Putin’s direct instructions,’ said political scientist Harutyun Mkrtchyan during the demonstration. The deputy chair of For the Republic, Ruben Mehrabyan, elaborated on this statement, arguing that Lukashenka has taken on the role of Putin’s press secretary — ‘what is on Putin’s mind is on [Lukashenka’s] tongue’.
In response to the protest, Belarus summoned the Armenian Chargé d’Affaires, Narek Tiraturyan, to the Foreign Ministry in connection with the ‘act of vandalism’ against the Belarusian embassy building. The Belarusian Foreign Ministry also claimed that Armenian authorities took ‘clearly insufficient measures’ to prevent damage.
Armenian authorities have not responded yet to these statements, however, diplomatic tensions between Armenia and Belarus have been ongoing since June, with the two countries recalling their ambassadors after Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said he would not visit Belarus while President Lukashenka was in power due to his support for Azerbaijan in the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
The President of Belarus in exile, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, condemned
‘The dictator has betrayed both Belarusians & [Armenians], acting on behalf of the Kremlin. Belarusians stand with the friendly people of Armenia and we are committed to strengthening our ties’, Tsikhanouskaya wrote.
During the protest, Arman Babajanyan, chair of the For the Republic party, said that the Armenian government should invite ‘the real [Belarusian] leader’ Tsikhanouskaya to visit ‘democratic Armenia’. He recalled her meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister, Ararat Mirzoyan, in June during a diplomatic crisis between the two countries, which he called ‘a significant step’.
During the same interview, Lukashenka also stirred up controversy in Kazakhstan, by suggesting that Kazakhstan was among some post-Soviet countries that were ‘dodging’ their obligations to their economic and foreign partners.
He referenced Kazakhstan’s 2022 protests, noting that Kazakhstan did not request support from the nearby countries of China, India, or Pakistan, but instead cried ‘Putin, Lukashenka, help!’, after which CSTO troops were transported to Kazakhstan ‘within half a day’ to calm things down.
