PM: CSTO leaving Armenia

REGION  14 March 2023 - 14:47

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has commented on Yerevan's refusal from its quota of Deputy Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

Pashinyan said in a press conference on March 14 that any mechanism, including the existence of a quota, should become an additional stone in the Armenian security system. However, if this quota does not contribute to security, then Armenia considers it meaningless.

Being true to the population is the most important thing for Pashinyan in this situation. He recounted a summary of his conversation in 2022 with the then CSTO Secretary General Stanislav Zas.

When the secretary general visited Armenia, in a conversation with the prime minister, he said that the CSTO was concerned about Armenia's possible withdrawal from the organisation.

“I told the secretary-general that the concern is inappropriate. Another thing is appropriate, namely, concern that the CSTO itself will leave Armenia. I think that the CSTO, willingly or not, is leaving Armenia, and this worries us. We didn't hide anything. We have publicly expressed our concern. We will be happy to take on the post of the CSTO deputy secretary general, but it should not turn out that we are sending the wrong message to our people,” he said, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Armenian media.

Pashinyan said that everyone saw how long and consistently Armenia has worked and continues working with partners.

“We proposed our principles, which, by the way, are not about Armenia. This is the principle of whether the CSTO operates in Armenia. Does it exist or not? We are ready and want to raise this issue,” the Armenian prime minister added.

The Armenian prime minister added that Armenia was reproached for its unwillingness to fight and its inclination to demand help from the CSTO. However, hostilities were held in November 2021 and September 2022, new accusations were made against the government, they say, Armenia applied to the CSTO upon the wrong article of the treaty.

Pashinyan called such discussions frivolous. In fact, "Armenia appealed on all possible articles, referred to the agreement, other adopted documents".

Caliber.Az