Pashinyan Accuses EAEU Member States of Seeking to Destabilize Armenia

YEREVAN — Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has accused certain forces of attempting to use the possibility of suspending Armenia’s membership rights under the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) treaty to provoke domestic political instability and undermine the country’s sovereignty.

“We will live and see,” Pashinyan remarked when asked about a report prepared by four EAEU member states outlining the potential consequences of suspending the treaty’s application to Armenia.

The report forecasts a 15.6 percent decline in Armenia’s gross domestic product and a 69 percent increase in natural gas prices under such a scenario.

Speaking to journalists at the government headquarters on October 22, Pashinyan said his previously expressed position regarding these projections remains unchanged.

On October 20, representatives of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan presented the report to the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, examining the potential economic and legal consequences of suspending the EAEU treaty’s application to Armenia.

Pashinyan argued that EAEU member states lack the legal authority to expel Armenia from the organization, unlike the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), whose charter, he said, provides such a mechanism.

“Considering that the member states of the EAEU and CSTO are essentially the same, it is interesting why they do not, for example, remove Armenia from the CSTO, where such a possibility exists under the charter,” he said.

Armenia announced the freezing of its participation in the CSTO in February 2024.

The prime minister reaffirmed that his government’s principal priorities remain Armenia’s continued development, the protection of its independence and sovereignty, and the diversification of its foreign relations.

Pashinyan maintained that restrictions imposed on Armenia in previous years had failed to produce the economic and political consequences allegedly sought by certain groups both inside and outside the country.

He claimed that the current situation surrounding the EAEU is being used as another attempt to generate domestic instability.

According to Pashinyan, similar efforts have occurred twice during the past three years, and a third attempt is now being prepared.

As the first example, he cited the events of 2023 in Nagorno-Karabakh, alleging that, while Russian peacekeepers were present, the movement of displaced Armenians toward Armenia was accompanied by calls for a change of political leadership.

The second attempt, he said, was associated with Armenia’s June 2026 parliamentary elections.

“That attempt also failed, and now, essentially, a third attempt is being prepared,” Pashinyan stated.

He argued that the current developments are driven primarily by political rather than economic considerations.

“There is essentially no economic component here. We are dealing with a political component, and the objective is to provoke domestic political instability in Armenia and ultimately establish control over the Armenian state,” he said.

Pashinyan further claimed that the ultimate goal of such actions is to deprive Armenia of its independence, first in practice and subsequently in legal terms.

Despite these concerns, the prime minister expressed confidence that Armenia possesses sufficient resilience to overcome the challenges and safeguard its sovereignty.