Armenia should be expelled from CSTO: Bordyuzha

Armenia should be expelled from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), since it does not take part in the organization’s work, yet all decisions still have to be agreed with it, Nikolai Bordyuzha, former CSTO Secretary General, told RIA Novosti.

“If they suspend their participation but don’t withdraw, they remain full members of the CSTO. If they are full members of the CSTO, then all decisions, and decisions in the CSTO are made by consensus, must take their positions into account. And today that position essentially contradicts what is being done in the CSTO,” Bordyuzha explained.

In his view, the decent thing for Yerevan would be to leave the CSTO altogether, and if it does not, Armenia should be expelled from the organization.

“I would expel them. They don’t pay their dues, they don’t take part. Seriously, if they are serious partners, they should simply go ahead and withdraw. But since they have this ambiguous position, we won’t withdraw, but we won’t work, we don’t participate, and we don’t want to, they should be expelled,” Bordyuzha said.

The CSTO currently comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In 2024, Armenia announced it was “freezing” its participation, although the organization’s charter makes no provision for this, and stopped paying membership fees.