Belarus responds to Armenian speaker over “province” remark

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry has rejected comparisons to a “province” in reference to its relations with Russia, responding to comments made by Armenian National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan.

“Statements by the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament are nothing more than election populism and a desperate attempt to distract his electorate from severe domestic problems. (…) We clearly distinguish between the brotherly Armenian people and their short-sighted government representatives,” the Belarusian foreign ministry said.

The ministry stressed that Belarus is a sovereign state and independently determines the format of its allied relations with Russia. It also added that attempts by Yerevan to drag Minsk into internal political disputes represent a serious violation of diplomatic etiquette.

Earlier, Simonyan stated that a political operation aimed at changing the country’s leadership is underway and cited Belarus as an example of what, in his view, Armenia does not want to become.

“Either you must be Armenia to have balanced relations with both Russia and others, or you must be a periphery, or Belarus. We will not sell our independence. We will not become a province. That cannot happen, it has no price,” Simonyan noted.

By Jeyhun Aghazada