Beniamin Matevosyan: Pashinyan celebrated the freezing of Armenia’s CSTO membership in Turkey

(After the CSTO, Armenia’s membership in the EAEU will also be frozen)

Armenia has been stripped of its voting rights in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), as well as of the ability to appoint its representatives to senior positions within the organization, Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s press secretary, said. The restriction of voting rights and the blocking of Armenian nominations to key posts are the logical outcome of years of political sabotage of obligations, non-payment of dues, and ignoring and discrediting the organization’s work. What is striking in this story, however, is not so much the technical procedures as the telling display of the current Armenian leadership’s priorities.

The symbolism of what is happening is hard to hide. On the day the country was losing its voice in a military-political alliance that was key to it and had guaranteed its security, Nikol Pashinyan chose to travel to Turkey.

Footage of the Armenian prime minister comfortably settled with an armudi glass and shaking hands with Recep Tayyip Erdogan became a vivid illustration of where Armenian foreign policy is heading. Against the backdrop of a pointed distancing from former partners, the visit looks like a demonstrative break with past ties and a confirmation of new priorities.

In practice, the freezing of Armenia’s status in the CSTO is only the first stage in a chain of geopolitical transformations. The next step will inevitably be a similar scenario in relations with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). The EU integration process, launched by the Pashinyan government in 2025 with the adoption of the relevant law, directly contradicts the fundamental rules of the EAEU. It is impossible to be part of two incompatible customs and legal spaces at once, and Armenia’s Eurasian partners have already made it clear that they do not intend to protect the interests of a country that is undermining the union’s economic framework.

A report prepared by the governments of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan paints an extremely alarming picture of a hypothetical suspension of Armenia’s participation in the EAEU. In that case, the country’s economy would face a real collapse: a 15.6% drop in GDP, an inflation surge of almost 15 percentage points and a plunge of more than 55% in total trade with partners. The return of full customs controls, the end of recognition of quality certificates, rising energy prices and the abolition of preferential treatment for labor migrants would deal a severe blow to the well-being of ordinary citizens.

Notably, Armenia’s EAEU and CSTO allies are in no hurry to expel Yerevan from the organizations altogether, as Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, also stated the day before. The door left open is not merely a diplomatic gesture. It is a chance for the people of Armenia to clearly see the cause-and-effect relationships behind what is happening. Full responsibility for the looming economic and social crisis lies personally with Pashinyan. The country’s citizens must realize that stability and prosperity were guaranteed by membership in the EAEU and the CSTO, and that the destruction of this foundation is a deliberate choice by the current prime minister.

The partner countries’ call for Armenia to hold a nationwide referendum on choosing between the EU and the EAEU is an attempt to bring the situation back into the legal framework and give the people a chance to have their say. It is time for political forces and Armenian society to draw conclusions from the current situation before the severing of integration ties becomes a final and irreversible disaster.

Think about it…