{"id":206007,"date":"2026-10-02T18:52:01","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/206007\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T18:52:03","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:52:03","slug":"lukasenka-warns-armenia-against-rushing-into-eu","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/206007\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka warns Armenia against \u201crushing\u201d into EU"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

October 2, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka used a meeting with the Eurasian Economic Union\u2019s heads of government Friday in Minsk to warn Armenia against \u201crushing\u201d to join the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve decided [to join] the European Union, why are you rushing?\u201d \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s press office quoted him as saying. \u201cYou must clearly determine where your brandy will go, where your vegetables and fruit will go, and in what volumes. Will you be able to replace what you\u2019re selling to us today? If you\u2019re made sure that France will buy your brandy, despite having nowhere to sell its own, fine, go. Why are you running? Why are you putting the cart before the horse?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka urged Armenia not to \u201cthrow away what benefits you today\u201d and not to \u201cleave this common market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 1 and 2, Minsk is hosting a session of the Eurasian Interstate Council attended by the heads of government of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is expected to take part in the session via video link. No one will represent Armenia in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one represented Armenia at the meeting with \u0141uka\u0161enka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2024, Nikol Pashinyan said that neither he nor any other Armenian official would travel to Belarus as long as \u0141uka\u0161enka was in power. Armenia subsequently withdrew its ambassador from Minsk. Belarus also recalled its ambassador, Alaksandar Kaniuk, who was soon dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pashinyan was angered by \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s remarks supportive of Azerbaijan made in May 2024. The Belarusian ruler reportedly said that he had not only been aware of Baku\u2019s plans to try to reconquer the Nagorno-Karabakh region by force but also approved them during his meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev before the 2020 war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armenia has also been downgrading its participation in the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization since late 2022, accusing its individual members of \u201cplanning a war\u201d against Armenia together with Azerbaijan. Pashinyan declared that the CSTO posed a threat to Armenia\u2019s existence, sovereignty and statehood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In April 2025, Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan signed a law establishing the legal framework for Armenia\u2019s accession to the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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